Aozaki and Tohsaka: The Book of the Four Faces
by Jaenera Targaryen
Summary: One year has passed since Touko and Sakura's expedition into the depths of the Yucatan. Sakura has since become a part-time member of the Department of Modern Magecraft Theories, while continuing her apprenticeship under Touko. But as the fallout of the Fifth Holy Grail War drops, Touko, Sakura, and Caules set out on a new adventure. Their destination: Omsk, Russia.
1. Prologue

Disclaimer: I do not own the Fate franchise it belongs to Kinoko Nasu and Type-Moon.

Aozaki and Tohsaka – The Book of the Four Faces

Prologue

_"Trying to lose me is pointless, you know."_

_Sakura Tohsaka looked back over her shoulder at the redhead older woman following her through Osaka's back alleys. No, more than that. She was a witch, just like Sakura was. What an amazing thing…and in a way, scary too._

_…_

_…_

_…_

_Maybe one day, she'd be as amazing and scary too. That would be so cool._

_"I'm not trying to lose you." Sakura said. "Just taking the long route. I don't want the police to notice us. They're not very nice to me or my friends. Or to people like us…"_

_Sakura trailed off, muttering unpleasant things about the police under her breath. Touko Aozaki hummed in understanding and what might have been a touch of sympathy, but said nothing. Sakura didn't speak up again, and instead continued to lead the way through the labyrinth of alleys and side-streets out of the way of Osaka's main thoroughfares and more prosperous and built up districts._

_And it certainly looked the part. The buildings all around were all of cheaply and quickly-built hollow block construction, plastered and painted over to give the impression of concrete. In many places even that was crumbling away, exposing the cheap building materials beneath. And much of what wasn't crumbling away was stained by years of grime and pollution._

_Glass windows were grimy in ill-maintained frames, and more than a few were broken or just gone. Some of the latter had simply been boarded up, though a few were left as they were, gaping and staring blankly into the open._

_And while there might be no piles of garbage lying around, the streets might be paved, and there weren't any ruptured pipes leaking water clean or otherwise onto the ground, the air hung heavy in the area. It wasn't just the closeness that came with how bunched together the buildings were, or how narrow the streets were either. It was also the people, and there were quite a few of them around, of varying ages and both genders._

_They didn't look particularly destitute, but neither did they give the impression of urban prosperity. Their clothes looked worn, and in many cases patched over more than once and in several places. The expressions on their faces and the way they carried themselves reflected that too, eerily – or not – matching the clothes they wore._

_No hovels or makeshift shelters could be seen, though some of the people in the streets could be seen sitting on thick stacks of cardboard, dirty strips of sheet metal visible here and there. But of course: hovels and shovels needed to be quick to setup and take apart, just in case they needed to leave in a hurry, one way or another._

_The same went for their belongings, which were never kept in a single place by any of the people here._

_Speaking of which…_

_…their eyes followed Touko warily, expressions set and unfriendly towards someone who was clearly an outsider. In particular, her clothes might not be top of the line fashion, but they were of good quality, a rarity in these parts of the city, and making her stick out in her surroundings._

_They'd be even less friendly too, if not for Sakura clearly leading the way. More than a few waved at or gave her a few words of greeting, the nine-year-old girl returning them with familiar disinterest, after which the locals kept their distance, somewhat reassured._

_People can be such sheep, but even sheep know about strength in numbers, and closing ranks around their own._

_After half an hour of walking around in circles – or so it seemed – they arrived at an old and rundown factory. The brick walls had been all but completely stripped of plaster, the windowpanes were all gone, the doors and the frames falling apart. Sakura slipped through a pair of doors barely hanging on their hinges, and began whistling in a pattern even as Touko slipped in behind her._

_There was the sound of rustling and light steps, and at a flicker of movement, the two witches looked up. A pair of heads looked down at them from the second floor, dirty faces wearing curious expressions on them._

_"Oh hey, Sakura." One of the two said. "Who's the old lady?"_

_One of Touko's eyes twitched at that, though the children just ignored her obvious annoyance. Then again, that really shouldn't be a surprise. They lived a hard life, so they wouldn't scare easily._

_"This is Touko Aozaki." Sakura said, gesturing at Touko. "She's got a job for us."_

_There were more footsteps above, and then an older boy was leaning against the rusty second floor railing. "Really?" he asked. "That sounds…interesting. What's the job? And how much will we get paid for it?"_

_Sakura shrugged. "I don't know." She said, before gesturing at Touko again. "Miss Aozaki said you can talk it out."_

_The boy peered down at Touko, who met his gaze evenly. The staring contest went on for nearly a full minute, the children just looking on curiously. It was the boy who gave way first, looking away with a shrug, before looking back at Sakura._

_"…anything else?" he asked._

_Sakura shrugged again. "She's a witch like me." She said. "Maybe it's better to let Old Man Nakajima take care of this?"_

_The boy hummed and hawed for several moments, and then gave way with a sigh. "…that's…probably the best idea…" he conceded, before stepping back from the railing. "…alright, I'll be right down."_

_Touko looked at Sakura curiously as the boy turned away and went for the stairs. "Old Man Nakajima…?" she asked._

_Sakura shrugged yet again. "He's the elder around here." She said, before giving a small smile. "And…he's a witch too…like you and me…"_

_Touko raised an eyebrow at that. "Really ?" she asked, before giving a small smile. "Now that sounds very interesting."_

* * *

_The present day_

Oil hissed and sizzled as strips of bacon cooked in a pan over a stove. Sakura stood nearby, busy beating eggs with a dash of milk in a bowl with a fork. Pausing for a moment, she added a pinch of salt and a touch of pepper to the egg mash, and resumed beating.

A timer rang moments later, and Sakura was pausing again, setting the eggs aside and picking up a pair of tongs. She used them to take the bacon off the pan to drain into a bowl nearby, before adding more bacon to the pan. Once again, oil hissed and sizzled as the bacon cooked, while Sakura resumed beating eggs in a bowl.

"Morning, Sakura." Caules cheerfully greeted his girlfriend as he walked into the kitchen, fresh from the shower.

"Morning, Caules." Sakura said, not pausing her beating until Caules was next to her. Even then it was brief, and only to return a quick hug and a peck to the lips before she was getting back to breakfast, while Caules was walking away and then busying himself with making coffee and toast.

"…we're running low on strawberry jam." He remarked a few minutes later, after a glance at the condiments platter while setting the table.

"…uh…the grocery list's on the fridge's door." Sakura said, while putting the egg mash down and turning the bacon.

"Got it."

Sakura put another pan on the stove, and waited for it to heat up before adding just a touch of oil. Caules meanwhile added strawberry jam to the list of things that needed to be bought come grocery shopping on the next weekend, and then was back to setting the table. Then the sound of hissing and sizzling doubled, as Sakura poured the egg mash into the frying pan.

Caules turned back to the coffee…

…only to abruptly come to a halt as the cat walked by unconcerned, Julia nibbling at her food bowl before stepping into her basket and curling up, looking on as her owners busied themselves with preparing breakfast.

"Two more days until the weekend." Caules observed as he prepared coffee for himself and Sakura.

"Hmm…" Sakura hummed in acknowledgement while placing serving platters on the table. "…here's to hoping the weather holds…winter's coming to a close, but you never know with these things…"

"Well, that's true." Caules agreed, taking a seat while Sakura pulled off her apron and placed it in a clumsily-folded pile on the countertop. "Speaking of not knowing, don't forget about that presentation you have to do at eleven today."

"Huh?" Sakura asked in confusion as she also sat down. Then her eyes widened in realization. "Oh, that presentation…yeah, thanks for reminding me. It's done, but I might forget to bring it with me later."

Caules shrugged and smiled. "No problem." He said.

* * *

"Hey, you two."

Caules and Sakura stared. Not at Flat, for all that he _was _unusual, even by Clock Tower standards (though Sakura's master at one point remarked that Flat was _probably _just a savant), but at what he was carrying.

It was a cylinder of some kind, about a third of Flat's size, made from glass except for the ends, which were made from metal. Ports and valves jutted out from the metal here and there, and a sickly green fluid of some kind filled the cylinder. But that wasn't what had Caules and Sakura staring. No, they were staring at what was inside the cylinder.

It was…

…well, they didn't know what it was. It looked like a pale caterpillar, if caterpillars were as long as a man's arm and as thick as a bodybuilder's thigh. Some kind of proboscis jutted out of its head (?), though it didn't seem to have eyes, feelers, legs, or whatnot.

"What is that?" Sakura asked, her expression deadpan (not that Caules' own expression was any different).

"Oh this?" Flat asked back, while hefting the cylinder for emphasis. "I don't know."

"…Caules…help…please…" Sakura breathed, stepping behind her boyfriend and gently pushing him forward.

"…uh…Flat…" Caules began uncertainly. "…if you don't know what it is, where'd you get it from? And where are you taking it?"

"I got it from Professor Waver." Flat cheerfully replied. "It's from some kind of experiment they were running in Lab 137, on loan from the Department of Botany. Now that they're done, Professor Waver asked me to give it back."

"How on Earth did…no, never mind." Sakura said with a sigh. "It's Lord El-Melloi II."

"…that's Professor Waver." Flat said with a smile.

Caules sighed, and taking Sakura aside, gestured for Flat to go ahead. "See you later, you two." He cheerfully said as he walked by.

"Right, see you." Caules said with a wave.

"Watch your step!" Sakura said in concern, before glancing at Caules once Flat was out of earshot. "…shouldn't we have come with him?"

"I'm…not really sure…" Caules said, the words coming out as though it hurt him to say. "…Flat…can take care of himself…but…yeah…um…"

"…and what on Earth was that thing?" Sakura asked after a moment. "That was…creepy. And I used to spend a lot of time in master's workshop, with – artificial – body parts lying around. Those people over at Botany are…well, never mind."

Sakura looked around warily at that, and with a sigh, Caules placed an arm around her shoulders while leading her away. "Come on." He said. "We're going to be late. As for Flat…well, if Lord El-Melloi II thinks he can handle it just fine on his own, then…I…guess…it's fine…?"

"…Caules, that didn't sound really confident at all."

Caules fidgeted and sighed. "Yeah, I know." He said, before pushing his glasses back up his nose. Then changing course, he led Sakura around to follow after Flat. "Come on…let's go make sure he doesn't hurt himself or something. So long as we don't actually step over Botany's threshold, we should be just fine."

"Hmm…yeah…that's probably true."

About fifteen minutes later, there was the sound of breaking glass, a loud inhuman roar, and screams. All in all, just another day over at the Clock Tower.

* * *

A/N

Hey, hey, hey, I'm back!

Let's start this off slow, but don't worry. We'll get into the action soon enough, as well as why Sakura seems to have broken away from Touko here and now. It only looks that way, but that's enough about that.


	2. Chapter 1

Disclaimer: I do not own the Fate franchise it belongs to Kinoko Nasu and Type-Moon.

Aozaki and Tohsaka – The Book of the Four Faces

Chapter 1

"Congratulations." Svin Glascheit said while extending a hand towards Caules Forvedge. Caules took it firmly, and shook his friend's hand.

"Thanks." He said. "Though for what it's worth, your presentation was just as well done as mine or anyone else in our class' was."

"Hmm…thanks…" Svin said as they both let go. "…though, I guess we can't really disagree with Lord El-Melloi II's reasoning on how when all is said and done, your project was still the most practical out of all of us."

Caules laughed weakly and rubbed the back of his head. "Yeah, I guess so." He said. "Though you have to admit that's only for a given value of 'practical'. Making carbon fiber and silicon carbide isn't a walk in the park, especially in large amounts. Or for that matter, refining silver to at least ninety-nine per cent purity. And you still have to put them together afterwards."

"True, true," Svin admitted with a series of nods, before crossing his arms and tilting his head with a smile. "But there'd be more possible applications, and less chance of complications resulting from said applications."

"…eh…not really…" Caules uncertainly said. "…if you don't take proper precautions while producing carbon fiber and silicon carbide, or refining silver, there'd be really nasty complications further down the line. At least as bad as yours, which is what really concerned Lord El-Melloi II."

"True, true," Svin said with a sigh. "Though like I said, that's why it's only supposed to be used in emergencies, and if you do use it, you should see a medical professional as soon as possible."

Caules nodded before giving a smile. "Well," he said. "At least it's still more practical than most other projects presented today."

Svin snorted, and raised an eyebrow at Caules. "Like your girlfriend's?" he asked with an impressed smile. "Using Imaginary Numbers in conjunction with territorial fields for instantaneous travel between multiple points within said territorial fields…talk about thinking big."

"Yes, well, Sakura was – _is _– a Grand Magus' apprentice." Caules said while adjusting his glasses. "It's only natural for her to think big."

"Did someone mention my name?" Sakura asked, walking over in curiosity.

"Yeah, we were just talking about you." Svin said with a polite nod. "Not bad, Sakura…"

Sakura snorted. "Thanks," she said. "But you don't need to soften the blow. Guess I should have listened to Caules, huh? Practicality, practicality…"

She trailed off with a sigh, and after a moment Caules had placed an arm around her shoulders as a comforting gesture. "…to be fair," he said. "The energy problem was solved in theory, by linking the territorial fields to the local ley-lines."

"Assuming they can pick up the slack," Sakura countered. "As Lord El-Melloi II said, not all ley-lines are equal. I could suck some of them dry, and that still might not be enough to give my project the juice it needs. And of course, territorial fields are tricky things to set up in the first place."

Sakura sighed, and gave Caules an apologetic look. "Sorry, Caules." She said. "I should have listened and gone for something smaller and more manageable."

"Hmm…" Caules hummed before pressing a kiss to the top of her head. "…no, it's fine. It wasn't a bad idea, just…ahead of its time, I guess. And you can't be blamed for that."

"Hmm…thanks…" Sakura said, closing her eyes and hugging Caules back before disengaging. "By the way, Svin?"

"Yeah?"

"Would you like to talk to my master when she comes back?"

"What?"

Sakura tilted her head with a smile. "It's just that that idea of yours," she began. "Using a cocktail of adrenaline, endorphins, and a psychotropic performance enhancer to improve ability in critical situations is something that might just interest her. Especially that last bit: I mean, it isn't untried or unknown, but a psychotropic component for the enhancer? There's something that might get master to consider the idea of cooperation for mutual benefit."

Svin stood still and silent for a few moments, and then nodded slowly. "…it does seem like something up your master's alley." He finally admitted. "And there is a lot of promise in the idea. I'll have to think it over at length."

Sakura nodded. "Makes sense," she said. "Still, thanks for not immediately throwing the idea away out of hand."

Svin smiled. "What?" he asked. "It's a potential chance to work with the famed Grand Magus Touko Aozaki herself. I can't just dismiss it without thinking it over first. And thanking you, of course, for bringing it up in the first place. So, thanks."

"Well, what are friends for?"

"Hmm…what indeed?"

* * *

"Hey there, Gray." Sakura greeted with a wave as she walked with Svin and Caules to the cafeteria for lunch. "It's been a while, how've you been?"

"Busy," the cloaked and hooded magus said with a sigh, and giving polite nods to both Svin and Caules, who nodded back at her. "Lord El-Melloi II has been keeping me busy over the past couple of weeks."

"…have you been getting enough sleep?" Svin asked with veiled concern. "And have you been eating? You look…well, you don't really look it but…"

Svin trailed off with a pair of near-inaudible sniffs. "…you're not well, are you?" he finally asked.

"I've been busy." Gray said while briefly closing her eyes. "Needs must…now if you'll excuse me, I must report to Lord El-Melloi II. I take my leave."

Gray gave a polite bow, and then hurried off, leaving all three of her friends looking after her in concern. "Something must be up." Svin finally said. "I know Lord El-Melloi II's always busy, but this is the first time we've seen Gray in weeks. And she explicitly said Lord El-Melloi II's been keeping her busy, and I could smell it."

"…that's…a bit paranoid…don't you think?" Sakura asked, and Svin glanced at her. "I mean…yeah, they're busier than normal, but it's probably nothing too serious."

"And you're sure of that how?" Svin challenged.

It was Caules who answered. "Incidents and happenings don't stay quiet for long." He said. "Well, the details do, but that's beside the point."

"The generalities should have come out by now if something serious went up." Sakura followed-through.

"And the rumor mill would have gone to work immediately," Caules said with a resigned air. "Churning out a hundred and one stories all of which are partly-true, but none actually telling the whole thing."

"That's…a good point." Svin conceded before sighing. "…I'm just…worried, for her, you know?"

"She'll be fine." Sakura said, before giving a reassuring smile. "Trust me, women are stronger than they look, and we have a sense for each other. Better than men have for each other."

Caules and Svin crossed their arms and raised their eyebrows. "Oh really?" they chorused.

"Yeah," Sakura said without flinching. "We do. So while Gray's getting tired and worn out from overwork, she'll pull through, no doubt about it. And don't worry. She's nowhere near burning out."

"And you got all that from women's intuition?" Svin asked skeptically.

"Mostly…and the fact that Gray's a magus." Sakura said with a shrug.

"…not really very reassuring…" Svin said crossly.

Caules sighed. "That said," he began. "No matter how worried we get for her, what can we do? If it's official business for Lord El-Melloi II, we can't just butt-in. Depending on how serious it is, it might be worth our heads."

"I…don't think it's that bad." Sakura said. "Remember what we talked about just now about incidents, happenings, and the rumor mill? Still, let's not go around tipping stones and get sanctioned for it."

"So we're just going to leave Grey to fend for herself?" Svin asked.

"I didn't say that." Sakura said, her turn to be cross. Then gesturing, she pulled out one of her spirits from Imaginary Numbers Space, and giving it a mental command, sent it off across the department.

"What are you planning, Sakura?" Caules asked.

Sakura shrugged. "I invited Gray to join us at Olga's this evening." She said. "Assuming she has free time, of course."

* * *

Gray emerged from Lord El-Melloi II's office to find a surprising (or not so surprising) sight. There was Flat Escardos, clearly waiting for his turn to come into the office, and passing the time with a conversation. That in itself wasn't unusual. What was unusual was who – or rather _what _– he was conversing with.

"I see." Flat said with a sympathetic tone and nod. "That's really sad. The man did everything he could so she and their son could want for nothing, but she never reciprocated until the very end."

The ghostly white blob hanging in the air of the corridor and filling it with a clammy chill bobbed as though nodding its head. Gray shivered, pulling her cloak tighter around herself, her breath coming out in steamy puffs. Down either side of the corridor, the windows were similarly fogging over from the cold.

"Hmm…the question is could she really not reciprocate?" Flat asked. "Or she just didn't want to reciprocate?"

"Flat," Gray breathed.

"Huh…oh hey, Gray." Flat said, turning and noticing her. "I can go in now?"

Gray nodded, and Flat turned back to the spirit he'd been conversing with, not looking the least bit put off or even affected by the cold in any way whatsoever. "Sorry, but I've got to go now." He cheerfully said. "It was nice talking to you though, I hope we can do it again sometime in the future. Bye!"

Waving cheerfully at the spirit, Flat happily walked over to the office door, and opening it, slipped inside before closing it behind him. Alone with the spirit, Gray looked at it warily, but after a few moments the temperature began to rise, the spirit pulling into itself before drifting closer to Gray.

Intent echoed through the ether, not quite words but enough for Gray to discern their meaning with some effort from her magic circuits. "You have a message?" she asked. "From who?"

An image ghosted into her thoughts from the spirit, filtered of possible malicious intent by Gray's magic circuits. "Sakura…" Gray said in recognition. "What does she want to say?"

Intent once more echoed through the ether, and Gray nodded in understanding. "Very well," she said. "No promises, but I acknowledge and am grateful for the invitation. You may go."

A sense of understanding came from the spirit, and then it was gone. Gray sighed as the temperature in the corridor returned to normal, and ran a hand through her hair while keeping her hood up.

_…Flat…_

Shaking her head at how…incomprehensible, her friend could be at times, Gray strode off to carry out her master's commands.

* * *

"Yes, Flat?" Lord Waver El-Melloi II asked from behind his desk as Flat approached.

Flat responded with a grin and by waving around a clipboard he was carrying with him. "You asked me to bring some papers over to General Fundamentals, professor." He said. "I'm back, and they sent more papers back with me!"

"Of course they did." Waver said with a sigh. "Alright, bring them here, let's see what they've got."

Flat did as he was told, and then bounced around on his heels while Waver flipped through papers on the clipboard. Then taking a fountain pen, Waver signed at the bottom of each page, before removing the papers from the clipboard and putting them in separate piles on his desk.

Opening a drawer, Waver pulled out a pair of file folders, and slipped the papers inside the appropriate folder. Replacing them in the drawer, Waver pushed it closed before turning back to Flat. "Okay, Flat." He said with a sigh. "Good work, but you can go back to class now."

Flat gave a faux-salute. "Right away, professor!" he said, before turning around and walking over to the door to leave. Alone in his office, Waver sighed, and after a moment got up to look out the windows behind him.

After nearly a minute, he turned and walked towards one of the shelves lining his office's walls. Pulling out a set of books and setting them aside, Waver opened a safe built into the wall, from which he removed a shot glass and a bottle of brandy. Waver unashamedly filled the former to the brim, and drank it down in one go. Then refilling the shot glass, took a mouthful while resealing the safe and replacing the books.

Returning to his desk, Waver had barely managed to sit down and get back to work before the door burst open. "Waver!" Lady Reines El-Melloi Archisorte shouted as she walked into the room like she owned it, Trimmau trailing after her.

"About what, Reines?" Waver said with a sigh, and a drink of his brandy.

Reines' eyes zeroed in on the nearly full glass in Waver's hand, and her expression evened out. Waver internally – he knew better than to sigh aloud at that warning sign – sighed. He knew what was coming next.

"Well, first of all, don't you know it's against the rules to drink alcohol on the job? And for another thing…"

As Reines picked up steam, Waver could only sigh in his head and take it like a man.

* * *

"Sorry, Sakura!" Yvette L. Lehrman apologized in an overly-theatrical fashion. "But I'm going to have to pass for tonight. You see, I've got an appointment at a spa this evening, for a facial, mud bath, and everything else that make up the works! Just you wait and see: come tomorrow, Lord El-Melloi II won't be able to resist!"

"…uh…right…" Sakura said, resisting the urge to take a step back. "…next time then."

"Yup, bye-bye!"

Yvette pranced off, humming to herself. Sakura scratched her head, and then shook it before pulling a bottle of pills out of the Imaginary Numbers Space. "_That woman makes me so tired sometimes._" She thought, downing some paracetamol to deal with the headache starting to build between her eyes.

Returning the pill bottle to Imaginary Numbers Space, Sakura walked off across the Department of Modern Magecraft Theories. Twenty minutes later and she was waiting for Caules outside another room, her boyfriend chatting with a friend at a worktable.

He quickly spotted her though, and bringing their conversation to a quick end, gathered his things before joining her outside. "Hey." He said.

"Hey yourself." Sakura said, before leaning in for a quick kiss. Then they were walking off, arm in arm. Caules quickly realized though that Sakura was somewhat…tense.

"Something wrong?" he asked.

"Yvette…" Sakura said with a sigh. "I invited her to join us tonight, but she's in one of her moods. You know, where she gets busy with another hair-brained scheme to seduce Lord El-Melloi II and become his mistress."

"Ah…yeah, I get what you mean." Caules said with a sympathetic nod. "What's she going to do this time? Please tell me it's not like what happened on Valentine's…"

"No, nothing like that." Sakura said, with an inward shudder at the mention of Yvette's Valentine's Day scheme from the previous year. She'd only just joined the department at the time, and Yvette's shenanigans had nearly led her to transfer to another department out of sheer embarrassment.

In the end though, Lord Waver El-Melloi II had talked her out of it.

_No offense intended, but at the end of the day until your apprenticeship is complete you are a mere no-name upstart as far as most families are concerned._

_Your willingness to persevere against discrimination and ultimately succeed is admirable, but also naïve in its own way._

_The only department outside of our own where your talents would not be wasted out of sheer inertia – to say the least – would be General Fundamentals, and only in part at that._

_You're Japanese, aren't you, Miss Tohsaka? Then I'm sure you've heard of the saying gossip just lasts 75 days._

_Rest assured, Miss Lehrman will be regretting her actions very much, and there will be no repetitions._

"Apparently," Sakura continued. "She's going to spend the evening at a spa getting a facial, a mud bath, and everything else to make her look as pretty as possible for another try at getting into Lord El-Melloi II's bed."

"Well…I suppose that's better than what happened last year." Caules sighed. "I mean, she's wasting her time, but it is her time to waste…"

Caules trailed off with a shrug. Sakura smiled and shrugged as well, and then resting her head against Caules' shoulder, continued on their way.

* * *

"…out, OUT, **OUT!**"

Caules and Sakura paused walking at the sound of angry shouting coming from the bar up ahead. They looked on as a dark-haired woman dressed in a red cocktail dress under a black mantle trimmed in white fur threw out an unruly patron practically by the ear. "You can't treat me like this!" the man shouted from where he was lying on the ground. "Don't you know who I am?"

"See if I care." The bar madam snapped. "Get out of my sight, and be thankful I don't call the cops on you for being touchy-feely with my waitresses."

The man got to his feet, heaving angrily, only for two of the walking mountains of muscle that served as the bar's bouncers to close ranks before the bar madam. Quickly realizing his chances, the man backed off with a sneer and a rude gesture. "You wait and see!" he shouted. "I have friends…powerful friends…I'll be back, you'll see!"

The bar madam scoffed and made to go back inside, only to pause as Caules and Sakura approached up the street, and ignoring the long line along the sidewalk. "Hey," she said with a small smile, Oriental features – and to Sakura, strangely-familiar ones at that (though it could just be Asians being rare in London or rather the Clock Tower making the bar madam stand out) – giving her an exotic air, even more so as her eyes were blue instead of the brown more common among Asians. "Sorry about that."

"You're just doing your job, Madam Trish." Caules said, and Sakura nodded next to him.

"That said," Sakura began. "Will it really be alright? That guy sounded pretty confident about his…friends, in high places."

Trisha 'Trish' Fujimaru snorted. "And you think I don't have friends in high places?" she asked.

"Point," Sakura replied, and Trish grinned.

"Get in, you two." She said with a gesture of her head. "Regulars like you don't wait in line, and a couple of your friends already got here ahead of you."

Caules and Sakura nodded. "Excuse us." Caules politely said, as he and Sakura were let through by the bouncers.

The inside of the bar was fairly anachronistic, and wouldn't look out of place for anyone from the Roaring 20s. That was the whole point though, as it gave the place a 'classy' feel which served to attract customers. Good food, drink, music, and service convinced them to stay, and keep coming back.

All four of those were going around in good amounts, waitresses in yellow dresses and white aprons and caps going to and fro, serving drinks and food, and taking orders from customers at tables and in booths. There didn't seem to be a band today, but the regular pianist was there at the stage, playing jazz tunes on her piano, wearing a violet cocktail dress that matched her hair and eyes.

Probably thanks to hair dye or contact lenses…

…or not, Olga's being not far from the Clock Tower, and indeed counted many magi among their patrons. And while Caules and Sakura had never seen any of the staff at the Clock Tower before, that didn't completely rule them out as being magi – or spell-casters – themselves.

Not that it really mattered, of course. And it was rude to ask, especially when they had no reason to either.

So they just went with it, and from the look of things, so did any other magus who paid the slightest bit of attention to Mash's – obviously a stage name – coloring. Besides, what did it matter in the end, anyway? She played well, and that was that.

Slipping through the crowd and past other tables and booths, Caules and Sakura made their way to their usual booth, and found Svin and Gray having beaten them there.

"Gray…!" Sakura happily said, immediately sitting next to her friend, and giving her a quick hug. "I'm glad you could make it."

"…Lord El-Melloi II said I could take a break." Gray said with a small smile. "We've been working very hard lately, but smoothly for all that. So he gave me the whole of tonight to myself, though it's back to normal again tomorrow."

"Well, life's like that." Sakura admitted before grinning. "So you ought to take and enjoy what time you have."

Gray nodded, and then the four of them – Svin and Caules breaking off their conversation – were looking to a waitress as she served their regular orders. "Draft beer for Mister Forvedge," she cheerfully said. "And rum and cola for Miss Tohsaka."

"Thank you, thank you." Sakura chanted before taking her glass and giving it a sip, while Caules nodded in agreement.

"Miss…?" Svin said, lifting his empty beer mug and letting her take it away for a refill. Caules took a sip of his beer, and then took snatched a nacho chip from the platter already on the table.

"…still trying to be a good girl, huh?" Sakura observed with an amused smile, noting Gray's order of a fruit smoothie instead of something alcoholic. Gray just shrugged, and a titter of laughter rippled through the quartet.

"Is Flat not coming?" Caules asked before taking another nacho chip and putting it into his mouth.

"He said he'd come." Svin said. "Unless something comes up. You know how he is."

"…true…"

Conversation stilled again, as the waitress returned with a fresh and foaming mug of beer for Svin. Svin took it gratefully, and then counting up to three, the four magi clinked their glasses together in a toast before taking long drinks of their chosen beverages.

* * *

"Well, aren't you four having fun?"

Eyes turned to the source of the voice, falling on Luviagelita 'Luvia' Edelfelt, the smirking blonde dressed in a blue and white cocktail dress. And next to her was Flat, who rubbed the back of his neck sheepishly at the attention.

"Sorry," he began. "I got lost."

"Again…?" Sakura asked in disbelief.

"But…how…?" Caules asked next.

"We come here like…three times a week, at least." Svin said in a confused tone. "How can you get lost just as often?"

"I don't know." Flat whined while slipping in to sit next to Caules. "I just do…"

"One of you really should stay with Flat on the way from the tower when coming here." Luvia said as she sat down next to Sakura. "I found the poor dear going around in circles two blocks away, and I simply had to help him."

Svin palmed his face, while Caules sighed. "…thanks, Luvia." Sakura said.

"Anytime." Luvia said in a sing-song tone, as a waitress arrived with food and drinks. More nachos, as well as Long Island Iced Tea for Luvia, and a Piña Colada for Flat.

"Thanks again, Luvia." Flat said after a long drink of his beverage. "That said, um…I…I don't really need to be accompanied while coming here. I'm sure I'll figure it out and stop getting lost sooner or later. But, I need to learn on my own, right?"

"Well, if that's how you feel about it, then fine." Luvia said with a shrug. Most of the other magi around the table didn't look nearly as convinced, as shown by the troubled looks they shared with each other.

"Great!" Flat said with his usual cheer.

"It's not fine or great at all!" Svin protested.

"Agreed," Caules said with a nod, before glancing at his friend. "Flat, you shouldn't be so…cavalier, and uncaring about getting lost."

"I don't want to cause you or Svin or anyone else trouble…" Flat began.

"It's no trouble at all." Svin interrupted, and Caules nodded.

"Yeah, we're friends, after all." He said. "And we look out for each other."

"…thanks?" Flat began. "But…I can't let you guys hold my hands for me, because that's not really going to help. I…"

As the four of them – Caules, Flat, Sakura, and Svin – argued over the table, Gray just nibbled at nacho chips completely unconcerned, and sipping every so often at her smoothie. As for Luvia…

…despite the decidedly inelegant surroundings she found herself in, she found herself far more at ease here than in any ballroom or garden party she'd ever attended. And wasn't that a remarkable thing?

* * *

A/N

It's only slow for now. Events will move much faster in coming chapters.


	3. Chapter 2

Disclaimer: I do not own the Fate franchise it belongs to Kinoko Nasu and Type-Moon.

Aozaki and Tohsaka – The Book of the Four Faces

Chapter 2

Caules and Sakura were sitting at a table in a library doing their schoolwork when Flat ran up to them. "Hey, you two!" he said with a mix of cheer and urgency, and slamming his hands onto the table for emphasis. "Did you hear the news?"

"Volume, please." Sakura said, without looking up from where she was busy drawing up a graph. "We're in a library."

"And…that depends on the kind of news." Caules said with a cough. "If it wasn't on the radio's morning news, then no, we haven't heard. What's it all about, Flat?"

He then gestured to a free chair at their table, inviting Flat to sit, which he did after a moment. "Well," he began while pulling his chair closer to the table. "Have you two heard about the Holy Grail War?"

"…sounds familiar…" Sakura murmured, still focused on her graph.

Caules though, finally set aside the calculations he'd been working on to focus fully on the conversation. "You mean Heaven's Feel, right?" he asked. "The same ritual Lord El-Melloi II was involved in ten years ago, though he still used the name 'Velvet' at the time? And…the ritual where Lord Kayneth El-Melloi Archibald was killed while participating in?"

Flat nodded his head enthusiastically. "Yup," he said. "That's the one."

Sakura sighed and set aside her graph to also focus fully on the conversation. "…now that you mention it," she began. "Yeah, I remember now. The fifth iteration of Heaven's Feel: The Fifth Holy Grail War. Only it caused quite the stir a few months ago, when people found out it was going to happen, despite the fact that it's only been ten years since the last one, and the ritual's supposed to take place every fifty years or so."

"But despite all that," Caules said with a sigh of his own. "Those with the opportunity to participate did so willingly. Ah well…guess we can't blame them. Magi will be magi, right? Go big or go home is kind of a thing with us."

Sakura snorted and raised an eyebrow at that. "It's stupid, that's what it is." She said.

Caules smiled knowingly. "Really?" he asked. "Why do you say so?"

"Haven't any of the participants ever read the old stories about djinns or monkey's paws?" Sakura asked rhetorically. "Because that's all the so-called Holy Grail really is in the end. Call it a wish machine if you want, but if it smells like a rat and squeaks like a rat…"

Sakura trailed off, while Caules shook his head with a short laugh. "Yeah, I can't argue with you there." He said. "Personally though, I'm just…appalled, at how…wasteful, the ritual is. I mean…from what I know, it's based partly on the Third Magic, is able to summon actual Heroic Spirits and then incarnate them in the form of Servants…and what do the participants do with them? They have them fight each other in a blood sport."

Caules shook his head. "…what a waste." He repeated, and Sakura nodded in agreement.

"Yes, yes," Flat quickly said while jerkily nodding in excitement. "But more importantly, the news I heard…the Holy Grail War's just come to an end."

"And…?" Sakura and Caules prompted together.

"Well…it's gone tits-up, apparently."

There was a moment of silence, and then both Caules and Sakura burst out laughing. They laughed long and hard, earning them a number of ugly looks from other people in the library, but after several moments, they managed to calm down. "Seriously, Flat," Sakura began. "Where'd you learn that from?"

"Learn what?" Flat asked back.

"Tits-up."

Flat shrugged. "It seemed appropriate." He said nonchalantly, and causing a few more laughs from his friends.

"…well, when you put it that way…yeah, I have to agree." Caules said while adjusting his glasses. "If I remember right, no Heaven's Feel ritual has ever reached completion."

Sakura snorted and shook her head. "Considering it's essentially a djinn," she scoffed. "I'd say that's a good thing. The gods know what might have happened if it had reached completion beforehand. I mean…didn't the previous ritual incinerate the surrounding city? And that was only because of a malfunction. Again, the gods know what might happen if it ever gets completed."

"Yes, well," Caules said with a cough. "As far as I know the firestorm that resulted from the Grail's malfunction was the result of stored prana being ignited, though the 'why' is still being debated. That said, I do agree that considering how wishes tend to backfire in stories where they're granted…yeah, it's probably for the best that Heaven's Feel never gets completed."

"So what happened this time?" Sakura asked, turning back to Flat. "Did the city burn down again? Did a Counter Guardian show up? A Beast of Gaia? Wizard Marshal Zelretch popped up to keep the world from ending? White Princess Arcueid stepped in? Come on, tell us already."

For once, Flat looked really uncomfortable at Sakura's cheerful jests of a Delphic bent. "It's not really that bad." He said. "From what I hear, a World Gate was opened and closed, that's all."

"WHAT?" Caules and Sakura loudly yelled, and again earning angry glares and reproving words from others in the library.

Flat nodded his head quickly. "There aren't any details yet," he said. "But word is that much is beyond question. Monitors across the Clock Tower picked up a World Gate being activated…oh, and I heard a Dead Apostle might have been involved too…"

"A Dead Apostle…?" Sakura echoed incredulously, while Caules looked sick.

"…still unconfirmed, but that's the word from Professor Waver's office." Flat chirped out.

"…Sakura…" Caules uncertainly began after a moment. "…aren't your relatives…you know…"

Sakura briefly glared at her boyfriend, then slumping down in her seat, ran her hands through her hair. "…why on Earth did I have to end up being related to them?" she asked no one in particular.

Naturally, there was no answer to her question.

* * *

_Here we are, born to be kings_

_We're the princes of the universe_

Touko growled low in her throat at the interruption, and grabbed her phone from a pocket while continuing to inscribe runes in the air with burning violet flames. The ringtone abruptly cut off as Touko pressed a button, and she put it to her ear.

"This better be good, Sakura." She snapped, while finishing her runes. Holding out her free hand palm outwards, the runes flashed to incandescence before exploding in a torrent of gold and red flame. They twisted and flowed into coherent shapes as they billowed outward, until a pack of wolves made of living flames were loping forward at breakneck speed, fangs bared and roaring as they pounced on their prey.

Spawn and mutants alike screamed as the burning constructs tore them apart, leaving charred meat and bone, and boiling blood in their wake. Touko ignored them, instead eyeing her captive, the bound albino lying at her feet glaring hatefully up at her. A kick to the ribs had the hate giving way to pain.

_Much better._

"Master, I have a problem." Sakura said over the phone. "And you _know_ me: I wouldn't be calling if it wasn't important."

"You sure it's not something that El-Melloi boy wonder in charge of Modern Magecraft Theories can't handle?" Touko said while pacing around.

"…you know my relatives?" Sakura asked back after a moment. "The ones we found out I had about a year or so ago?"

"Yeah, what about them?" Touko asked again.

"Well, they're the Second Owners of Fuyuki City, right?" Sakura asked. "And they participated in the recent Holy Grail War…which kind of…went to hell…"

"Yeah, that sounds fairly typical of Heaven's Feel." Touko disdainfully said. "And? What's so important about this?"

"A World Gate was opened and closed in Fuyuki when the Heaven's Feel ritual came to an end."

"Ah shit…" Touko swore. "…yeah…went to hell…understatement of the century…if your relatives _are _involved beyond the tangential, heads are going to roll."

"Yes, I know. But it gets worse."

"Hit me."

"They say a Dead Apostle got involved."

"…okay, listen up." Touko said, exorcising her worries about her apprentice by kicking at her captive again and again, ignoring its protesting shouts and cries and grunts of pain. "Hang in there, I'll wrap things up here in New England as quickly as I can, and I'll be there shortly. Oh, and tell that El-Melloi boy wonder that if I get there – or even if I don't – and I find out you _disappeared _into the College of Law, the least he'll have to worry about from me is his head on a stick."

"Will do, master."

"Good…take care, kid."

"Likewise, master."

Touko hung up, and returning her phone to her pocket, glared down at her captive. "I don't really have time to play around." Touko said while extending a collapsible cattle prod-like mystic code. She sent prana into the mystic code, and its business end began to crackle with electrical discharges. "So let's stop wasting time with what you don't know, and get on with what you do know."

The albino sneered and spat at Touko. "Do your worst, Human." It sneered. "I do not fear your torments. _Cthulhu fthagn!_"

Touko raised an eyebrow. "Challenge accepted." She coldly said, and terrible screams and cries echoed far and wide across the New England countryside on that night.

* * *

_What did I do to deserve to be related to those Tohsaka bastards?_

Lord El-Melloi II seemed to have taken the warning she'd passed on from her master a few days ago. That, or – and thinking better of the man (which wasn't really undeserved either) – Lord El-Melloi II simply took his responsibilities to his students very seriously. And that was probably why the expected (and dreaded) questioning was held in his office, as opposed to a cell in the College of Law.

"Ah, Miss Tohsaka." Waver said, rising from behind his desk with a nod. Then he gestured at the two men in the room with them. "These are Inspectors Tristan Duchamp and Gautier Alarie. They're here to take your statement with regard to the Fuyuki Incident, given your…unfortunate, relation to one of the suspects involved."

Sakura sighed and nodded. "Understood, my lord." She said in resignation.

Waver stepped around his desk, and gestured for the three of them to join him at the coffee table. Sakura sat down at the couch, while the inspectors sat on the armchairs opposite. Waver didn't sit, but instead stood reassuringly to Sakura's left.

"Very well, Miss Tohsaka." Inspector Duchamp began. "We'll do this quick but proper. Keep in mind that anything and everything you say will be on the record, so any erroneous or falsified information may be held against you."

"Understood." Sakura said tensely.

"Just relax, Miss Tohsaka." Inspector Alarie said. "There's no need to be so tense. Just answer the questions honestly and as best you can, and everything will be alright."

"In any case, you're not a suspect." Waver added. "What's more, you're a registered apprentice to a senior member of the Association. You may respond with silence, should your obligation and duty to your master comes into question."

"Understood." Sakura said with a deep breath.

Waver nodded once at Sakura, and then at the inspectors. The two men placed the folders they'd brought with them on the table, and opening them, showed their contents to be her profile as a registered member of the Mages Association. Inspector Alarie also pulled out a pen and notepad.

"For the record," Inspector Duchamp began. "Please state your name, age, rank, and any current positions as a magus."

"Name: Sakura Tohsaka." Sakura replied. "Age: fifteen, but turning sixteen come March 02 this year. Rank: Flame. Position: apprentice to Grand Magus Touko Aozaki, though currently on indefinite hold."

Inspector Alarie dutifully jotted all her responses down. "And the reason your apprenticeship is on hold is….?" Inspector Duchamp prompted.

"Master wanted me to study at the Association for a while." Sakura said. "She said it would be a good experience to have. A way to broaden my skills and horizons, before resuming my apprenticeship under her."

"And what can you say about your experiences in the Association so far?" Inspector Duchamp asked.

Sakura smiled. "It's not so bad." She said. "I've learned a lot here at Modern Magecraft Theories. Lord El-Melloi II and his staff are excellent educators, especially when it comes to encouraging students to think beyond the conventional, but properly at that."

"I see." Inspector Duchamp said with a slow nod. "Though I note that's only with regard to your skills, and you mentioned broadening your horizons earlier. How has that gone?"

"About as well as might be expected," Sakura said with a shrug. "I've made friends and acquaintances here at Modern Magecraft Theories, in particular Magi Escardos, Forvedge, and Glascheit. And Apprentice Grey, of course. I cannot really say I have close friends beyond those I have mentioned, though Magus Edelfelt from Mineralogy is a friend."

"Hmm…I see…" Inspector Duchamp said with another slow nod. "…and you have no intention of expanding this circle of friends and acquaintances any further?"

"Friends remain to be seen." Sakura said, sitting back in the couch. "Acquaintances I'm more open to."

"And the reasoning for this is?" Inspector Duchamp prompted.

Sakura smiled wider before leaning forward. "To quote my master," she said. "I'm a magus."

Inspector Duchamp raised an eyebrow, while Waver narrowed his eyes. Inspector Alarie paused taking notes to look curiously at her. And after a moment, Inspector Duchamp nodded slowly. "A most interesting and telling reply." He said.

Sakura briefly closed her eyes. "I know." She simply said.

"Outside of the Mages Association," Inspector Duchamp continued after a moment. "Would you say you have friends and acquaintances of relevance to your calling and of relevance to this case?"

Sakura was silent, her expression unreadable. After a few moments, Waver motioned for the inspectors' attention. "I think the answer to that will require permission from Grand Magus Aozaki to be given." He said. "Considering what we know of Magus Tohsaka's history, what relevant answers would be from when she – or rather her master – was on the run. Seeing as it's only been a year since Grand Magus Aozaki was reinstated, it's understandable that she – and by extension, her student – would be protective of their external network."

Inspector Duchamp hummed in acknowledgement and thought, while Inspector Alarie made some notes before speaking up. "Grand Magus Aozaki's assets and history are not in question and are only of ancillary relevance in this case." He said. "We should move on."

"…very well." Inspector Duchamp said with a slow nod. "Proceeding to the heart of the matter, what is your relationship to your family?"

"I don't have a family." Sakura immediately said.

The two inspectors drew back ever so slightly, taken aback by the automatic response. "That was rather…empathic." Inspector Duchamp said.

Sakura shrugged. "So I share my bloodline with the Tohsakas of Fuyuki City." She said. "Big deal…it only makes me their relative, not a member of their family. If I was, then I wouldn't have spent years before meeting my master scratching out a living in the slums of Osaka."

"Yes, that is quite the remarkable circumstance." Inspector Duchamp said while nodding. "Any idea how it could have come to that? Osaka is quite the distance from Fuyuki."

Sakura shrugged again. "I don't know. Maybe my father had a casual fuck with my mother." she crassly said. "She got pregnant, but he didn't give a damn about me or her. I was born, and then left to fend for myself after my mom vanished out of my life. What else can I say? I was…a child…at the time…"

Sakura trailed off uncertainly, looking away with a matching expression on her face. Inspector Duchamp flipped through the papers in her profile, and nodded slowly. "Your meeting with your master and the subsequent start of your apprenticeship is on record," he said. "By testimony both from you and Grand Magus Aozaki, so I don't think we need to revisit that."

Sakura gave a curt nod of acknowledgement. "So, you have had no contact with the rest of the Tohsaka lineage of magi?" Inspector Duchamp said.

"None." Sakura said firmly.

"You do not know any of their mysteries?" Inspector Duchamp asked, and Sakura snorted.

"No, of course not." Sakura said. "I haven't had contact with them, so how could I? Besides, even if I did, I can hardly use them."

"Yes," Inspector Duchamp observed. "According to the general information on your profile, Jewel Magecraft would be a poor fit for you."

Sakura snorted again, and then actually laughed. "It's funny, really." She said with a wry grin. "Tohsaka are an Edelfelt branch. And Edelfelt are especially famed for their Jewel Magecraft. Yet here I am, apparently born of their blood, but with no ability to use their mysteries…amazing, isn't it?"

"I'm not sure I would call it amazing…" Inspector Duchamp said uncertainly.

Sakura shrugged. "Magus Edelfelt calls it that." She said.

"Hmm…so I see." Inspector Duchamp said. "Moving on, you have no knowledge of Tohsaka's plans for the future?"

"No, how would I?"

"…you have no knowledge of their connections, alliances, and the like?"

"Outside of what's publicly known, such as their old alliance with Einzbern and Matou, with whom they founded Heaven's Feel."

"Yes…" Inspector Duchamp said with a dangerous tone, and one that caused Sakura and Waver alike to tense in worry. "No, I apologize. That was not directed at you, as much as it was at the massive breach in internal security, considering that much is publicly known, and the Matou family in particular has numerous patents registered here at the Clock Tower."

"Internal…security…?" Sakura echoed uncertainly.

Waver sighed. "Well," he said. "Seeing as you've already been affected ever so slightly by the situation, I think you have the right to know, though I would ask you keep it discreet."

"I can keep a secret." Sakura muttered.

"Hmm…so you can." Waver agreed. "You've heard from the news that a Dead Apostle was involved in the Fuyuki Incident. What you wouldn't have heard is that the Dead Apostle in question was _the _patriarch and founder of the Matou family…or as it's properly known, the Zolgen family."

"…what?"

Waver smiled thinly. "The man who founded the family five hundred years ago," he said. "Who worked with the other founders to start Heaven's Feel over a hundred years ago, and who still leads them to this very day, is one and the same: Makiri Zolgen, or as he's known now, Zouken Matou."

"…what did I do to deserve to be related to those Tohsaka bastards?" Sakura softly lamented.

"Seeing as you are not a recognized – on their end – member of their family," Inspector Alarie said. "There's really no need for you to worry."

"Hmm…it certainly seems that way to me." Inspector Duchamp agreed. He glanced at his partner, who nodded. "Very well then Magus Tohsaka, we have what we need. Thank you for your time and cooperation."

Sakura nodded and got up as the inspectors did likewise, and shook hands with them before they left. She stayed silent and still until the door was closed behind them, and then turned to Waver. He smiled reassuringly at her.

"Why don't you take the rest of the day off?" he offered. "I'll take care of the formalities, and inform Caules myself."

"I…yes, my lord. And thank you."

"Hmm…just looking out for a student, that's all."

* * *

Olga's was as busy as ever that evening. And by that fairly relaxed compared to other bars with more modern themes. There still wasn't a band tonight, but Mash was at her piano, playing a slow and relaxing jazz number as a backdrop to the hum of conversation and the clinking of glass, silver, and china across the bar.

"No offense," Sakura began while setting her glass of rum and cola back down on the table. "But your relatives on the far side of the world are a major pain in the neck, Luvia."

Luvia shrugged while taking a sip of her Long Island Iced Tea. "Hey, I'm in the boat as you are." She said. "I've never met much less actually know those people. Just like you, the Tohsakas of Fuyuki are relatives, _not_ family."

"Hmm…the College of Law got a statement from you too?" Sakura asked.

"Yes…quite an annoyance, to be honest. It's just standard procedure though, apparently." Luvia said, before smiling teasingly. "That said, at least I don't share the same name as they do."

"Ugh…don't remind me…" Sakura groaned while taking another drink. "…my mother just had to give me my father's name, even though he clearly never gave a damn about either of us."

"Hmm…shame you can't ask her about that…" Luvia remarked softly.

"Yeah," Sakura agreed. "Shame that…"

Caules coughed primly opposite the two commiserating cousins, and smiled disarmingly at both of them. "So…" he began. "What's likely to happen to Tohsaka? Assuming the worst really happened over at Fuyuki, that is."

Sakura looked at Luvia, who took a drink first before answering. "They'll probably lose their position of Second Owner." She said. "I mean…even if they didn't know Makiri Zolgen or whatever his name is was a Dead Apostle until recently, they still let him live on their land for the past century or so. If nothing else, that only shows how bad a job they've been doing as Second Owners."

"And if they did know?" Sakura asked.

Luvia rubbed her fingers together several times. "Let's hope they didn't." she said grimly. "Because from what I hear the Queen…she is displeased."

"Off with their heads…" Svin muttered next to Caules.

"Hmm…that is certainly a possibility." Luvia admitted. "But more likely they'll lose their crest, their patents, before being placed under geis."

"Time to change my name, from the sound of things." Sakura muttered, and taking another drink. "Ah shit…that's going to be real pain in the ass. And I'm going to have to go back to Japan to do it too. Damn it…damn those Fuyuki Tohsakas…"

"And that doesn't even factor in the fact that their precious Grail had a World Gate built into it." Luvia said with a resigned smile. "Frankly speaking, our relatives are in such deep shit that it's going to be a miracle if any of them come out of it with their heads."

"And…you're just going to let that happen." Caules said.

"…I suppose my family might be able to do something." Luvia admitted after a few moments and a drink. "The question is, why should we risk sticking out our necks for our relatives who make deals with Dead Apostles and who willfully ignore the rules of the Mages Association?"

"You said it yourself: they're your relatives." Caules pointed out. "They might not be _family_, but they're still family. You also said it's still not sure whether or not they knew their old ally was a Dead Apostle. And as for breaking the rules of the Mages Association…"

Caules trailed off, though his eyes flickered to Sakura, who wasn't exactly amused. "No sex tonight." She said firmly, and causing Svin to choke on his beer and Luvia to burst out laughing.

"That's not funny, Sakura." Caules protested.

"I wasn't joking." Sakura deadpanned.

Caules fumbled for a few moments, and then coughed several times with his cheeks pink. "Look," he said after a bracing drink from his beer mug. "I wasn't referring to you I was referring to your master."

"Hmm…" Sakura hummed while tracing patterns on the wood of their table. "…I suppose you have a point there. Master did break the rules when she refused to accept her sealing designation, and killed everyone who went after her for it. I even helped her a few times…"

Eyebrows rose as Sakura trailed off, but she didn't elaborate further. Caules though nodded. "The rules aren't that important," he said. "In fact, the only really absolute one is about the Masquerade. Hell, our own Wizard Marshal is a Dead Apostle, so even the rule against their kind is clearly not absolute despite what the Barthomeloi say."

Luvia chuckled at that. "You do know that the Wizard Marshal annoys the Queen, yes?" she asked. "I mean…from what my father tells me, she barely tolerates him."

"But she tolerates him regardless, so there is precedent." Caules argued. "The same goes for Grand Magus Aozaki's – and by extension, my girlfriend's – pardon."

"True and true…" Luvia conceded. "Oh very well, no promises, but I'll talk to my father about looking into our relatives' circumstances and seeing what we can do."

"Great!"

Sakura snorted and shook her head while finishing off her glass. "Caules, you're too caring for your own good sometimes." She said.

"Not really," Caules said while fixing his own glasses. "I'm just being…honest? No, that's not right…acting with integrity? Well, whatever…my point is, they're still family to you two, at least up to a point. And families should always look out for each other. At least, that's what I believe."

"…Fiore."

"Yes."

Sakura didn't say anything more, and neither did Caules. The unhappy silence persisted over their table for several moments, and then with a cough Svin moved to dispel it.

"So," he began. "Does this mean that Caules gets to be lucky tonight?"

"None of your business." Caules and Sakura chorused, and that was answer enough.

* * *

A/N

No, Sakura wasn't lying. She just worded her responses in such a way that it could match both the truth (she's Tokiomi and Aoi's unwanted runaway younger daughter) and her preferred version of the truth (she's a Tohsaka bastard born of an unknown woman from Osaka and who grew up in poverty). Or simply put, everything she said was true…from a certain point of view.

With regard to Caules and Fiore…in timelines where the Forvedges aren't absorbed into the Yggdmillennia, Fiore is allowed to have the circuits in her legs removed earlier (as opposed to after the Great Holy Grail War), and she leaves magi society behind. Either way though, Caules' argument is that family should be willing to sacrifice their ambitions (Fiore was a genius surpassing both Rin and Sakura but Caules and their parents supported and accepted Fiore's decision) for the good and happiness of their individual members. Considering their parents forced both Caules and Fiore to kill a pet Kingsman-style to drive in the lesson 'magi walk with death', they still somehow come off as better parents than Tokiomi or Aoi.

#WorstParentsInTypeMoon.


	4. Chapter 3

Disclaimer: I do not own the Fate franchise it belongs to Kinoko Nasu and Type-Moon.

Aozaki and Tohsaka – The Book of the Four Faces

Chapter 3

A dull thump resounded from the counter, as the immigration agent stamped Touko's passport and allowed her entry into the United Kingdom. "Thank you for your patience." The agent said with a polite smile, and sliding the passport back to Touko. "Welcome to the United Kingdom. Have a good day, Miss Aozaki."

Touko nodded her thanks, before taking her passport and slipping it into a pocket. Passing through the security checkpoint, the Grand Magus walked towards the baggage collection area, where offloaded luggage would be sent after being checked by customs. Given the volume of people and luggage passing through Heathrow International Airport, it might take some time before her luggage arrived.

An annoyance, but something that couldn't really be avoided. With nothing else to do, Touko mentally went through all the contingency plans she'd come up with just in case she needed to bust her apprentice out of the Clock Tower. Or in the worst-case scenario, to punish the ossified fools for touching what was hers.

After about twenty minutes of standing out of the way, mind wandering through various plots and schemes, Touko blinked as she spotted her luggage arriving on the conveyor belt. Briskly walking over, she grabbed the heavy bag off the conveyor before dropping it onto its wheels. Then extending the handle, moved towards the terminal exit, pulling the bag behind her.

Some might wonder why a Grand Magus – or any magus worth the title – would be so blasé at having her personal belongings looked through. If so, then they were idiots.

Of course she wouldn't let anyone look through her things if anything important was included. The same went for any magus worth the title. They either left them in their workshops, or in Touko's case, kept her mobile workshop and its material reserves and everything else it had…somewhere, else.

Unlike her apprentice, she didn't need Imaginary Numbers to manipulate space. At the end of the day, there was a reason she was _the _master, needing the likes of a sorcerer (or sorceress as it actually happened) to defeat.

Speaking of her apprentice…

Touko pulled her phone out of a pocket, and hit speed dial. The call connected and rang twice before being answered. "This is Sakura speaking." The familiar voice said.

"I've got my luggage and coming out." Touko laconically said.

"Got it, master." Sakura said. "I'll bring the car over, though there's plenty of traffic."

"I know." Touko said, before disconnecting the call. Picking up the pace, Touko stepped through a final security checkpoint and then out of the terminal. Looking around for a moment, she then walked a few minutes towards a less-crowded bay, and waited patiently for her apprentice to arrive.

She arrived about ten minutes later, the silver Skyline GT-R driving up to the bay with a powerful purr from the tuned six-cylinder beneath the hood. Sakura stepped out the driver's side, dressed as usual in a dark bomber jacket over a cream-colored turtleneck above a pair of jeans. Walking around her car, she took Touko's luggage while Touko slipped into the passenger's seat.

Settling into the seat while Sakura loaded her luggage, Touko tuned out the sound of the luggage being loaded into the trunk, followed by it being slammed shut. A few moments later and Sakura was getting back into the driver's seat, before closing the door behind her.

"How was your trip, master?" Sakura cheerfully asked, even as she put the GT-R into gear and drove off.

"About as troublesome as expected," Touko replied. "But not unprofitably so: I got what I wanted in the end."

She smirked at that, thinking of all the specimens she'd acquired, and were even now in storage. Once she had the time to work with a more extensive setup, she'd have plenty to study: body parts and ichor samples from at least five kinds of spawn, even a number of artifacts of which a few were likely of non-Human origin.

And there was the greatest prize of them all: the pickled body of a cult priestess.

Oh yes, there was so much to learn.

But that was for the future. Right now, she had more pressing matters to attend to. Her apprentice for one. And…information, she'd acquired on her trip. Information she needed to act on before word got out that she knew, and the prey and her prize slipped out of her grasp.

You never knew when it came to those _freaks_, after all.

But first…

"I'm more worried about you, though." Touko said. "Granted, you're driving the car right next to me, so you've clearly not been dragged into the College of Law, never to be seen again. That said…that boy wonder treating you right?"

"You mean Lord El-Melloi II?" Sakura asked.

"Yes, him."

"Yeah, he's been treating me alright." Sakura replied with a nod, easily splitting her attention between her master and driving her GT-R down the busy road. "Not like you of course, but then again he's not you. And he's not my master. More…a principal, maybe? Professor…dean _and_ professor…yeah, that's more like it."

Touko snorted and shook her head. "What exactly has he been teaching you?" she asked.

"Practical applications of magecraft," Sakura said. "Thinking unconventionally, the values of creativity and innovation, and how to synthesize all that with established principles and methods."

Sakura paused and shrugged. "Lord El-Melloi II's not really the orthodox type." She said.

Touko snorted again, and then laughed. "No, he isn't." she said with grudging respect. "But he does have a brain in his head, and he knows how to use it. Besides, I'm not really one to talk against being unconventional and thinking outside of the box."

Sakura hummed noncommittally for several moments. "The Clock Tower or the penthouse?" she finally asked.

"The penthouse." Touko said. "I want to rest a bit. The stuff that needs doing at the Clock Tower can wait until tomorrow."

"Got it, master. The penthouse it is."

* * *

"Well, you've certainly been keeping the place clean. Not showroom clean either, which is good, because that obviously means either you cleaned just to show off…or you only cleaned because I was on the way."

Sakura looked a bit miffed at that, though she shrugged it off a moment later. "Hey, that was the agreement, right?" she asked. "I get to live at your cozy penthouse apartment while I'm studying at the Clock Tower, but I have to handle the household stuff myself."

"Hmm…so it was…" Touko conceded before looking around. Moving past the entrance hallway into the living room, she noted the personal touches Sakura had added over the past year, adding a touch of life to the place. "I see you've made yourself at home. No, you don't need to explain. It's only to be expected, and I'd be worried if you didn't."

And then Touko blinked, and stepping closer to a set of pictures on the wall narrowed her eyes at a set which showed Sakura in various places around London…no, not just London. All around England from the look of things, and always in the company of a – admittedly – handsome and brown-haired European boy of her age.

"Got yourself a boyfriend, I see." Touko observed before throwing her apprentice a smirk. The smirk only widened as she saw Sakura's cheeks turn pink. "So who's the lucky guy?"

"…Caules Forvedge," Sakura admitted with a sigh. "He's a classmate from Modern Magecraft Theories."

"Hmm…" Touko hummed before inspecting and resetting the bounded fields around the apartment. They all checked out, with no signs of tampering and having detected (much less responded to) hostile action within or in the vicinity since she'd last been here. They did however, give her what she was looking for. "…he's been visiting quite often…and sleeping here too."

"…that's…"

"Relax," Touko said with a reassuring smile and dismissive wave. "If you'd knowingly compromised any of our secrets, you'd be dead now. The apprenticeship agreement, remember?"

"Oh yeah…"

Touko chuckled. "That said," she continued. "I do hope you've been making use of protection, because frankly you're still too young to have children."

Sakura's face turned red, and she ground her teeth to try and regain her composure. "There are after morning pills behind the mirror in my room's toilet." She said, before stomping off.

"And where do you think you're going?" Touko asked in a sing-song voice.

"I need to make a grocery list for dinner." Sakura grouchily replied, and Touko hummed and snickered before shaking her head. A thought nudged her mind, and she took another look at the pictures of Sakura with her boyfriend. An eyebrow rose at the memory of another woman in Touko's life, that of a trusted…associate, friend even, who found lasting companionship with a dark-haired and spectacled man.

Caules Forvedge's hair was of a much lighter shade, but that didn't stop Touko from comparing him and Sakura with Mikiya Kokutou and Shiki Ryougi.

_How very curious…the women in my life just seem to be attracted to men with glasses for some reason…how very curious indeed…_

* * *

"So…you are Caules Forvedge. My apprentice's lover."

Caules nearly jumped out of his skin at the unfamiliar voice speaking up the moment he walked into the living room, and turned to face the source. "W-who are you?" he asked the unfamiliar redhead lounging languidly. "Wait…your apprentice…but that means…you're Grand Magus Aozaki."

"The one and only." Touko said with an exaggerated gesture.

Caules made uncertain sounds, before adjusting his glasses. "Um…lover…that's…" he fumbled.

"I guess it is an unnecessarily formal word to describe you." Touko admitted after a moment. "Boyfriend then?"

"Yeah, we use that."

"Oh good then…do try not to break her heart. While I do think she's strong enough not to let it get to her, it could still prove troublesome. So if you do break her heart, I'll break you in half. Understood…?"

"Yes, I understand." Caules said, paling at such a casual threat of violence and knowing all too well how Touko was capable of living up to her word.

"Alright then!" Touko said with a beaming smile, before grabbing an open can of beer from the coffee table and taking a drink. Realizing he'd been dismissed, Caules all but fled to the kitchen, from where the sounds of Sakura working could be heard.

"Your master is something else." He said.

"Yes, I know." Sakura said from where she was seasoning pork cutlets with salt and pepper. "Everyone in the Mages Association, if not the whole of the moonlit world, knows that."

"That's…not what I meant." Caules said before coughing and drawing himself up. "She's…I don't know. Taking our relationship well…?"

"Well, you're not dead yet." Sakura pointed out with a smile over her shoulder. "And she did say…well, no…more implied, that so long as you don't break my heart then we can go ahead and do whatever we want with each other."

"…well," Caules began after a few moments' thought. "It is expected for masters to treat their apprentices as practically family. I guess it'd be more suspicious if she didn't try to send that kind of message as soon as she could once she found out about us."

Sakura hummed and nodded in agreement. "Seems that way." She said.

"…you were listening in? Reinforcement…?"

"Yes."

"I…should have expected that." Caules said with a sigh. "Anyway…moving on, what's the plan for dinner? Need any help?"

"Since master's here, I'm planning to cook _tonkatsu_, along with _miso _soup with spring onions and _tofu._" Sakura said. "And _chashu _salad, of course. I can use some help, yes. Can you cut the tomatoes for me, please? I bought fresh ones earlier, they're in the fridge."

"Right away!" Caules said, already moving to wash his hands. Sakura nodded her thanks, and then turned back to her work.

* * *

"I'm not planning to stick around for too long." Touko began without preamble, as the three of them sat around the dinner table. Well, she sat on one side, while opposite her Sakura and Caules sat next to each other. "Maybe a week at most, if even that."

Sakura nodded in understanding. "What's the agenda in that time, master?" she asked before taking a sip from a steaming bowl of soup.

"I've got a number of samples and specimens that need to be properly sorted." Touko replied. "I also need to drop off something for the people in charge at Archaeology. A little something to keep them thinking fondly of me…"

Touko trailed off with a wry smile, and causing Sakura and Caules to look at each other. "I also need to have a chat with Lord El-Melloi II, and someone from the College of Law." Touko continued after a moment. "Apart from that…nothing else. For me, at least. Sakura, once the specimens have been sorted, start packing. You're coming with me on this trip, and be sure to pack warm: we're going to Omsk in Siberia."

"…Siberia?" Sakura echoed.

"Is there a problem?" Touko challenged.

"Not really, no." Sakura said. "I am curious, though. What's in Siberia that you want to get your hands on, master?"

Touko smiled while briefly glancing at Caules. "We'll discuss that later in private." She said.

Sakura shrugged. "If Caules overhearing is the problem," she said. "Why not bring him with us?"

"Wait, what?" Caules asked, looking and sounding surprised, pausing in the middle of raising a forkful of breaded pork to his mouth.

"Hmm…the idea is not without merit…" Touko mused aloud. "…this expedition is quite likely to get hairy, which is one reason why I'm bringing you along. That said, you really think your boyfriend can help us out? He won't be deadweight dragging us down?"

"Well, why don't you ask him?" Sakura cheerfully asked back, and glancing expectantly at the still surprised Caules.

"I think I will." Touko said with a nod, before also turning to Caules. "So…Caules, right? Tell me about yourself."

Caules gave Sakura a look, and then sighed. "…I'm Caules Forvedge." He said. "I'm eighteen years old, and currently the heir to the Forvedge lineage of magi. My magical potential is admittedly average, only twenty circuits with a rank of B, though my family's crest is a multiplier if it comes to that."

"Magical potential doesn't really tell me much." Touko said dismissively. "You can have high magical potential but that could mean nothing if you don't how to use it properly. Conversely, you can have average or even low potential, but hit hard because you know how to make the best of what you have."

"Well, I'm not giving away family secrets." Caules firmly said while adjusting his glasses. "But let's see…I can use Gandr."

Sakura was drinking some water at that, and promptly choked. "Wait," she began after a series of coughs and another drink. "Since when could you use Gandr? And how did you know how to use it?"

Caules shrugged. "I've seen Luvia use it a few times." He said. "And it's easy enough to get material resistant to or able to outright cancel out Gandr or its stronger variant, Finn. Between those two, I figured out how the former works and taught myself how to use it. I still can't use Finn though. Maybe someday, after some more work."

"Caules," Sakura worriedly said. "If Luvia finds out, she is going to kick your ass."

Caules just beamed at her. "Then I'm trusting you won't be the one to let her know." He said.

Sakura snorted, and then smiled and nodded. "Of course I won't." she said.

"Great!"

Touko coughed and tapped her fingers against the table to get their attention. "While I'll admit being able to take apart and replicate another magus' mystery is a commendable achievement," she said. "It's neither particularly unique, nor is Gandr a particularly profound mystery. Plenty of magi can use it, it's just that Edelfelt uses it better than most."

"I have an affinity for wind, and its sub-element lightning." Caules said.

Touko raised an eyebrow at that. "Do you, now?" she asked. "The 'noble' element is the rarest of them all."

"Yes, but more importantly my offense revolves around that element." Caules said with a nod. "I'll admit my elemental mysteries are average in terms of profoundness, but I'd also say they're effective for all that."

"Hmm…and drawbacks?" Touko said while lifting a slice of pork to her mouth, and then languidly chewing.

"…like I said," Caules admitted after a moment. "My potential is average, so I have limited prana reserves, which can be problematic as lightning mysteries are especially hungry for prana. Though, I can economize on that, through the use of mystic codes."

Touko nodded, swallowing her mouthful before taking a sip of her soup. "Anything else you'd like to add about your abilities?" she asked.

"I have an ample background in Formalcraft." Caules said. "Yes, I know. It's not particularly profound, but it's very stable and quite useful in designing mystic codes. It also allows me limited ability to circumvent the limitations of purely elemental magecraft. I also know some alchemy, not enough to coin homunculi or transmute metals, of course, but enough to craft elixirs and amalgams of various kinds for different purposes."

"And familiars?"

Caules smiled proudly, and adjusted his glasses. "My family specializes in spirits." He said. "Elemental magecraft and everything else are really just supplements."

"Spirits, eh?" Touko said with a smile. Her eyes briefly flashed to Sakura, and her smile widened ever so slightly. "Hmm…interesting…very interesting…perhaps you two might make a good couple…"

Caules and Sakura just glanced at and smiled at each other. Touko chuckled and shook her head at the sight, before slicing into her breaded pork once more. "Very well," she said. "You can tag along, but be sure to understand who's in charge. When I give an order, I expect it to be obeyed to the best of your ability. Also, you understand the risks involved, up to and including the possibility of death."

"Yeah, about that…" Caules said with a cough. "You being in charge is no problem. I'm just a Flame, you're a Grand Magus. I'm eighteen, and you're…well, never mind. But understanding the risks involved…yeah, I can't really say yes to that right now, seeing as I don't know anything more than the fact we're heading to Siberia."

Touko stared evenly at Caules for several moments, while Sakura looked on cautiously. Then Touko smiled, and nodded approvingly. "Good," she said. "You know how to ask the right questions. Maybe you might just be of use on this expedition. Alright, listen up, because I'd rather not repeat myself…"

* * *

Two days later and Touko was meeting with Lord El-Melloi II and a representative of the College of Law. Touko stood to one side, looking out over London through one of the windows in Waver's office, the great city left grey and colorless under an overcast sky. Waver for his part sat at his desk, seemingly relaxed in his seat. The College of Law's representative, Inspector Kerry Jackson, stood on the other side of Waver's desk, hands folded behind his back.

"I see." Touko said with a nod. "So my apprentice is not a suspect in the current case involving her relatives in Japan."

"That is correct, Grand Magus Aozaki." Inspector Jackson said with a nod.

"And yet in the past two days," Touko remarked. "I have heard her name being mentioned in one or the other among the rumors floating around."

The inspector made to speak, only for Touko to hold up her hand. "No," she said. "I do not hold you or anyone responsible for this. Rumors can be dangerous things, but only if they are acted on. And I know the College of Law is too professional for that to happen."

"That we are, Grand Magus." Inspector Jackson said with another nod.

"In any case," Touko said with a sigh. "The rumor vine is much too deeply-rooted and tightly-wound around the Clock Tower's institutions to do anything about. The only thing that can really be done about it is wait until the gossipers grow tired and move on to the next scandal that catches their fancy."

"That shouldn't take too long." Waver chimed in. "We are an academic institution, after all. And you know how students are."

"We also have plenty of bored nobles of varying ages here." Touko said with a laugh. "In my experience, nobles can be quite…daring, and creative, in their efforts to stave off _ennui_."

Waver raised an eyebrow at that, while Inspector Jackson looked a bit uncomfortable, but neither said anything. "Anyway," Touko said after a few moments, and placing a pair of folders she'd brought with her on Waver's desk. "I have a couple of requests to make."

Waver opened the folders, and raised his eyebrow again. "Requests for leaves of absence for Sakura and Caules?" he asked.

"Is there a problem?" Touko asked.

"Sakura is your apprentice." Waver said. "I can no more keep you from taking her with you on any of your expeditions than I can keep the Sun from rising. My signature on a formal request for a leave of absence for her is a matter of formality. Caules though…he's not your apprentice. He's also one of my best students, and the heir to the Forvedge family of magi. And it concerns me that he has volunteered – judging from this handwritten letter included with the request – to join you and your apprentice on your expedition to Siberia."

Touko shrugged. "As you said," she began. "He volunteered."

Waver hummed unhappily. "Just what are you going after, Grand Magus?" he asked.

"I would like to hear about that as well." Inspector Jackson said. "We are aware of the specimens you donated yesterday to the Department of Archaeology, Grand Magus. And we wonder at your involvement in in such a matter. It can prove a…security issue, and thus under our purview."

Touko smiled, and shaking her head, walked over to sit at one of the chairs in front of Waver's desk. "Alright then," she began. "Let's start with my trip to New England in the USA a few months ago…"

* * *

Julia purred as Luvia happily scratched her between the ears, the brown tabby lying relaxed in the basket Sakura had brought her in. "Don't worry," Luvia said. "I'll take good care of your pet while you're gone. She seems to be a good girl…isn't she?"

"If you're asking if she's been potty-trained," Sakura began. "Then yes, she's been potty-trained. And to not claw at your furniture or grab your food, for that matter. That said, she might jump into your seat or your bed or whatnot if she's feeling lonely or just wants to catch your attention."

"I see." Luvia said with a slow nod, still scratching Julia between her ears. "So I might just wake up to her lying next to me, or even on top of me."

"Yes, that's quite possible."

"Hmm…I suppose there are better things to wake up to than a cat curled up next to or on top of me."

Sakura laughed at that, and Luvia got to her feet. "Anything else I should know?" she asked.

Sakura held up the bag she carried in her other hand. "Julia's food." She said. "Though I think we can leave this to your household…"

"No," Luvia said with a shake of her head. "You entrusted Julia to me, so I'll take care of it personally."

"Okay then," Sakura said with a smile, feeling her respect for her cousin go up a notch at that. "Julia eats three times a day. One pouch of wet food each for breakfast and dinner, and a half cup of dry food for lunch. Note that while she'll always eat her breakfast and dinner in one sitting, that's not always the case for her lunch. She'll eat varying portions of it, and then periodically come back to nibble at it over the afternoon. She'll always have finished it by dinner time though."

"Sounds like a cat."

"She is a cat."

"I…never mind. Anything else?"

"Yeah," Sakura said with a nod. "Julia hunts. Birds, mice, small animals, that kind of thing. Not sure if she eats it, but every now and then she'll bring you her prey. And they won't necessarily be dead, either."

"Why?" Luvia asked, dumbfounded.

"I don't know." Sakura said with a shrug. "Neither does Caules, for that matter. Then again: cats."

"That is…fair enough." Luvia conceded with a sigh.

Sakura nodded and then smiled. "Oh," she said. "Connected to that, don't be surprised if you find her staring at a wall every once in a while. That's probably because she might be hearing a mouse or an insect inside it, so she's probably just waiting for an opportunity. And…she might scratch your walls when it comes to that."

Luvia scratched her head. "My wallpaper is expensive." She softly complained. "Then again, I doubt Julia would be doing that out of malice so…I guess I can repair scratched wallpaper if it happens."

Sakura nodded, and then looked past Luvia. Luvia followed her line of sight, and there Julia was, looking slightly tense, having left her basket and now looking up a blank wall. For a couple of minutes, the cat stayed still where she was, Sakura and Luvia also just standing where they were and staring at the cat. Then Julia sat down in a crouch, forelegs folded under her, but still staring intently at the wall. Luvia and Sakura looked at each other.

"Looks like you might end up fixing your wallpaper sooner rather than later." Sakura observed.

"Ha, ha," Luvia faux laughed in a dry tone, before gesturing for Sakura to follow. "Come on, show me how to set up and clean her litter box. The sooner we get that over with, the sooner we can get to Olga's."

"Oh yeah…Svin and others are planning to see us off, right?"

"Yes."

Nodding once, Sakura followed Luvia's lead, to a nearby table where Sakura could show her how to set up and clean a litter box. Behind them, Julia stayed where she was, staring at the wall, ears twitching every once in a while at the sound coming from inside.

* * *

A/N

Touko is such a tease, ja?

Moving on, yeah, we're finally getting to the meat of the story. The fallout of the Fifth Holy Grail War going SNAFU isn't really a big deal when all is said and done. Heaven's Feel is ultimately a minor ritual (canonically so according to background material) as far as Grand Rituals go, Sakura didn't even participate to begin with, and ultimately she's got no connection beyond the tangential bloodline relation with the Tohsakas of Fuyuki.

A statement for the purpose of keeping records will be enough for the College of Law. Someone else has to take responsibility for the incident in Fuyuki. Sucks to be them, ja?


	5. Chapter 4

Disclaimer: I do not own the Fate franchise it belongs to Kinoko Nasu and Type-Moon.

Aozaki and Tohsaka – The Book of the Four Faces

Chapter 4

"I sent some people to take a look at what's waiting for us when we arrive at Omsk." Touko said. "They've sent back some interesting reports."

The Grand Magus was lounging in a softly-upholstered sofa in a Learjet 31's passenger cabin, having chartered the plane to carry her and her companions to Omsk in Russia. Said companions were her apprentice, Sakura Tohsaka, and her apprentice's boyfriend, Caules Forvedge. The plane would also wait for them at Omsk, to carry them back to London afterwards.

"Should we be concerned?" Sakura asked.

"Hmm…the Second Owner, Count Victor Vadimovich Migunov has asked my people to extend an invitation to have dinner with him on our arrival." Touko said. "In exchange for passing on that invitation, he allowed my people to carry out their scouting mission without interference. So long as they remain properly-discreet, of course."

Caules frowned. "Now that's rather curious," he said while adjusting his glasses. "I mean I know the Soviet Union's been gone for well over a decade by now, but openly using a pre-Revolution title? The Second Owner's quite daring, I'll give him that much."

"To be fair," Touko said. "Even under the Soviet Union noble-born Russian magi continued to use their titles, at least while going around in _our_ society. Assuming they had titles, of course. And while Count Migunov used his title to extend his invitation to us, that doesn't mean he uses it in public."

"…fair enough." Caules conceded after a moment's thought, and mentally-chiding himself for not thinking it through. Especially as he was Romanian, and the first part of what Touko said had applied in his country. That is, following the fall of the monarchy and the rise of the Communist regime, Romanian nobles might have been forced to stop using their titles in public, but continued to use them in private and within the Moonlit World.

"More importantly," Sakura began. "What should we do about this invitation, master? Do we accept or refuse?"

"We'll accept." Touko said immediately. "Like I said, my people have sent back interesting reports. And the invitation from Count Migunov is actually the only bright spot there is."

Caules and Sakura looked at each at that, and then turned back to Touko expectantly. "It's not just the people I sent ahead to Omsk, you see." Touko said after a sip from a glass of champagne sitting on the coffee table between them. "I also drew on a number of information brokers I have ties with, along with information I…acquired, from an interested individual in North America."

Touko paused, and then laughed with the slightest hint of malevolence. "Or should I say _formerly-interested, _individual?" she said. "No matter…the College of Law has also provided information, in a surprising gesture of helpfulness."

"I'm getting a bad feeling about this, master." Sakura said dryly.

"Hmm…a certain cult has been growing in numbers and influence in Omsk, as well as in the surrounding countryside." Touko said. "They're quite daring, actually, all but openly flouting the Masquerade under the guise of being a…New Age religion, of one kind or another."

Touko snorted. "That technicality's kept the Association and the Holy Church from taking action," she said. "That, and Count Migunov's own efforts to stamp out the cult over the past several years. But while the Count had quite the successes early on, in recent years the best he could do is stalemate the cult."

"And you think this cult is connected to the Book of Four Faces?" Sakura asked.

"I am certain that the book is their holy text." Touko said. "At least based on my interrogations in North America. There is also circumstantial evidence in the cult's name: The Church of the Four-Fold Path."

"…warrior, scholar, farmer, and priestess," Caules murmured, remembering what Touko had told them in London about the Book of the Four Faces, and what those faces actually were. "The four faces of the divine, huh?"

Sakura sat back, arms crossed over her chest in thought. "How far has the cult gone?" she asked. "And just what have they been doing that flouts the Masquerade?"

"The priesthood and acolytes go around wearing vestments inscribed with the dead language from the book." Touko said. "They also hold prayer services and religious rituals in public. Nothing especially supernatural happens, as the cultists don't seem to be that stupid, and they've barred outsiders from attending or anyone from taking any pictures and the like that could expose them or just the supernatural in general. But supernatural things do happen, just…subtly, and journalists and similar individuals who know too much despite not being part of the cult just…disappear."

Touko paused to moisten her lips with another drink. "They've also undermined Count Migunov's authority and position," she said. "Even before he started suppressing the cult. Known agents of his were murdered or ritually-sacrificed, assets destroyed or looted, his family's ritual sites desecrated…"

The Grand Magus trailed off with a shrug. "And from the look of things they've got quite the following among the lower-classes of Omsk and the surrounding countryside." She said grimly. "The cult's leaders are smart. They're taken advantage of two things. First, the economic difficulties, social near-collapse, and general psychological shock still felt by large parts of Russia to this day from the collapse of the Soviet Union."

"Unfortunately true," Caules said with a nod. "A popular saying not just in Russia, but across Eastern Europe is that while everything the Free World said about Communism was true, unfortunately, everything the Communists said about democracy and capitalism were also true."

"I've heard about that." Sakura said. "Is it really that bad?"

"Yeah, it was." Caules said with a nod. "I mean…the economy was bad and barely holding together even before Communism fell, but thing is, governments fundamentally _can't_ go bankrupt. There wasn't real prosperity, and only a faint illusion of it during the late 1980s from what my parents tell me, but while people went hungry they didn't actually starve. Commodities were limited, but there were commodities. And while inefficient, social services _worked_."

"Then Communism fell." Sakura said.

"And when it fell, so did our economies." Caules said with another nod. "In Eastern Europe it wasn't so bad, at least not in Romania, but Russia? People actually starved, and stores went empty for _years_. Social services completely collapsed, all while their drunk of a president at the time partied with western bigwigs and corporate types."

"The Soviets might have been tyrants," Touko said with an air of amusement. "But at least they kept their country running. They gave their people direction, and while limited, there was opportunity for the people to rise in society. But after the Soviets fell, and until Vladimir Putin became president…"

Touko paused and laughed. "Russia might as well have been a carcass," she said. "Or a drugged woman, raped and plundered freely by greedy western corporations and governments."

"President Putin might have started changing things for the better," Caules said. "But he's only been president for a few years, and Russia is a big country. The rot's also had almost a decade to spread, so he's still got a lot of work ahead of him cutting it out."

"Which leads to my second point," Touko said. "That is, the cult's taken advantage of not just the scars but also the results of the Fall of the Soviet Union."

Sakura looked quizzical, and Touko smiled. "The local oligarchs," she said. "And organized crime, all of which have grown fat and powerful in the past decade. The cult's used them as scapegoats, directing the lower classes' frustrations and resentment in their direction, and using them as bogeymen, have given the cult the appearance of being the ones to bring justice and whatnot."

Sakura made a disgusted sound. "That sounds really familiar." She said.

Touko laughed. "Yes, I know." She said. "But, it's just Human nature to look for something or someone to blame when things go bad. And if you point a finger and lay out your case convincingly enough, they'll look to you for direction, and more."

"…so what's the plan, master?" Sakura asked. "If this cult is powerful enough to stalemate the Second Owner on his own turf, we can't just charge into their headquarters, figurative guns blazing left and right just to get the book."

Touko laughed again. "How very true." She said with a nod. "For now though, the plan is to meet with Count Migunov, and hear what he wants to say. In fact, I daresay we might find a cautious ally in the man."

"You think he wants your help with the cult?" Sakura asked.

"Hmm…I do." Touko agreed. "And it's not surprising, when all is said and done. How many Grand Magi of my caliber exist? And what are the chances any one of us would pass by to potentially offer him help? The count would be foolish to do otherwise."

"And…we'll help?" Sakura asked.

"So long as our objective is met, then I don't see why we shouldn't." Touko said with another drink. "I just want the book. I could care less about the cult. Hang them, burn them, shoot them for all I care. And to be honest, it'd probably be less trouble in the long run if we wiped them out along the way."

"I see."

Touko smirked. "Anyway," she said. "We'll probably be quite busy once we arrive at Omsk. So I suggest you take this opportunity to relax. None of us will probably be able to do so until we're finished with what we came to do, and are on our way back to London."

Caules and Sakura looked at each other again, and then the former shrugged. Sakura nodded in agreement. "We'll…take you up on that." She said. "So…how about a bite to eat?"

"I'm all for it." Caules said, taking a neatly-folded menu of laminated paper from next to him. "Sakura, what do you want?"

"Let's see what they've got." Sakura said while leaning to take a look with Caules.

Touko just snorted and laughed at the sight.

* * *

"Wow…this place is…I don't know…"

Touko glanced at her apprentice, as they stood together in the terminal of Omsk Tsentralny Airport. "It looks like it's seen better days, eh?" she asked.

"Pretty much, master." Sakura said, and Touko smiled.

"Come on, let's get moving."

The line at immigration was surprisingly short…or not, considering not many people tended to visit Omsk these days. That, or they were merely passing through, and most of those tended to stay aboard their planes while they refueled, dropped off other passengers, and picked up new ones.

The rather dilapidated and half-stocked stores around the terminal certainly didn't give Sakura the urge to go shopping for souvenirs. And those were the ones that were open, with many stores dark and with entrances boarded up, glass windows covered with paper or tarpoline.

A dull thump sounded as the irritable-looking woman sitting behind the desk stamped Touko's passport. "_Next!_" she said in Russian, and looking even more irritable as a nervous-looking Sakura moved up, sliding her passport and ticket forward. "_Miss…Tohsaka, yes? What's the purpose of your visit to Omsk?_"

"Um…I don't speak Russian." Sakura nervously-said in English.

The lady behind the desk gave her the stink eye. "But you speak English very well." She said in accented English. "Hmm…none of my business I suppose…what's the purpose of your visit to Omsk?"

"Educational," Sakura said. "I'm here with my master, Touko Aozaki, to do some studies on Omsk's history and culture."

"…ah, that Japanese woman from earlier. Master…you are her apprentice…?" the woman asked.

"Yes, I am." Sakura answered.

The woman nodded, taking a look through Sakura's passport to check her visa. "…I'm glad to see some traditions are still respected in other countries." The woman finally said with a hint of genuine approval, referring to the practice of master-apprentice tutelage in various trades and crafts, which went back to medieval if not earlier times. And which, fortunately or unfortunately depending on who you asked, was on the decline, with the advent of modernization and globalization. "You should follow your master's example. She speaks Russian very well, no accent at all."

"I will." Sakura said with a nod.

The woman nodded back while putting Sakura's passport down on her desk. "Your visa checks out." She said, stamping the passport and sliding it back to Sakura. "It should be valid for another six months, enough time for you to do your studies. Welcome to Omsk!"

"Thank you." Sakura said while collecting her ticket and passport, and moving away, allowed Caules to step up to the immigration desk. And unlike Sakura (or even Touko for that matter), not only could he speak Russian fluently, but as a Romanian had the immigration lady more favorably-disposed.

"_Welcome to Omsk!_" she said more cheerfully than with either Sakura or Touko. "_Enjoy your stay, Comrade Forvedge._"

_"My thanks, Comrade Zhilova._" Caules cheerfully returned the welcome, and collecting his ticket and passport, walked to rejoin Touko and Sakura.

* * *

"Welcome to Omsk, Miss Aozaki." A pretty blonde woman in prim black and white business wear greeted Touko and her companions shortly after they emerged from the terminal. "My name is Violetta Vasilievna Mitrofanova. Mister Migunov asked me to welcome you into the city, and to escort you to his home."

"Thank you for going through all this trouble, then." Touko said while shaking the other woman's hand. "These are my apprentice, Sakura Tohsaka, and her partner, Caules Forvedge. We accept your employer's invitation, and we'd be more than grateful if you could show us to him."

"But of course, please follow me." Violetta said with a nod, and taking the lead.

Despite the fact that the terminal wasn't that busy, there was still something of a crowd before and around it. This included not just family and well-wishers for departing passengers, or those waiting for arrivals, but also street vendors, loiterers, and airport staff. The four magi pushed through the crowd with an air of determination, making their way up the street to where cars were waiting for them.

Then Violetta seemed to tense, and slowing to a walk, subtly gestured for Touko to step up to her. "Careful now," she said. "Look over there."

Eyes turned to where Violetta gestured at, and narrowed at the sight of seven people. One of them was a priest of some kind, wearing a heavy, long-sleeved robe made from cloth of gold, along with a strangely-spiraling, conical hat on his head. In one hand he held a scepter of some sort, while around his neck and trailing down over his torso was a long strip of white cloth, on which were embroidered in more gold cloth marks and sigils that _hurt _to look at.

In addition to the priest, there were a trio of acolytes, one dressed similarly to the priest, lacking only the cap, sash, and scepter. The other two wore long-sleeved smocks tied with red sashes at the waist, while before the whole gathering four heavily-muscled men dressed the same way kept the crowd back, strangely-shaped amulets hanging on golden chains around their necks.

"The Cult of the Four Faces?" Touko asked, but it wasn't really a question. "Bold, aren't they?"

"They are." Violetta agreed. "And they're only getting bolder, and smarter than they ought to be. How the hell did they know you were coming?"

"Maybe they followed you?" Touko asked. "And if I may say so, how secure are you?"

Violetta clenched her fists in frustration. "I hate to admit it," she said. "But those are valid questions. This needs to be dealt with quickly."

"Agreed." Touko said.

"Watch your backs." Violetta warned. "I doubt those lunatics are only here to watch us."

Touko nodded and then looked over a shoulder to pass the warning onto her apprentice, who couldn't speak or understand Russian, but Caules was already doing that. Touko nodded once gratefully, and then turned back to the front. Both she and Violetta sensed Sakura releasing some kind of spirit that hovered protectively behind them, even as all the magi reinforced their bodies just in case.

The four magi continued on their way, slower and warier than before. As they passed the cultists, they felt the latter's eyes on them, and the priest's words grew louder and more forceful. "What's he saying?" Sakura asked. "It sounds Russian, but…"

"It _is_ Russian." Caules said. "But it's a dialect I've never heard before, so thick I can barely understand it."

"Same here." Touko said.

Violetta snorted. "Apologies in advance," she said. "But it is difficult to translate into English. That dialect has not been spoken for at least a century, and even then only by peasants in the most remote places of Russia."

"And what's he saying?" Touko asked.

Violetta shrugged. "The priest speaks of the coming of the crow-headed herald of the gods." she said. "He says the herald shall reward the faithful and punish the faithless, and the latter's blood will flow in rivers. The faithful should thus rejoice, feast and revel to celebrate the herald's coming, and the faithless should take their own lives, and in death find merciful oblivion over facing the gods' anger."

"…sounds fairly typical for a cult." Touko observed.

"They _are_ a cult." Violetta said. "Just one with real power and growing influence."

Touko said nothing, but nodded in agreement.

Slowly but surely, the priest's voice grew softer and weaker as the distance between them grew greater, until finally it was drowned out by the noise of the crowd. The crowd was thinner here though, and easier to move in too, which may be why their hosts had parked their cars here. There were three of them, up-armored BMWs with sleek black finish, the driver opening the passenger doors of the BMW in the middle. Another man took their luggage, and loaded it into the trunk.

A commotion behind them drew their attention, and heads and eyes turned to where a bearded and cross-eyed man had fallen to the ground, and was even now going into convulsions. Greenish foam bubbled from his mouth, his body flopping around on the ground like a fish, while his limbs and fingers scrabbled madly against the dirty cement of the sidewalk.

The crowd drew back in alarm, while airport security called for help. The magi's eyes were on a slender chain of gold around the man's neck, slipping from inside his shirt as he convulsed. Hanging from it was a thin piece of golden metal, shaped in an abstract design of some kind, but clearly-related to those on the sash of the priest from earlier.

Violetta motioned for Touko and her companions to get into the car, and they did. The drivers and attendants hurriedly entered their own vehicles, and were driving off moments later.

"Was that your doing?" Touko asked.

"The spirit I sent out earlier did that." Sakura replied.

"What'd it do?" Touko asked.

"Tore the man's lungs apart." Sakura said before blinking. "Wait, no…that's not quite it…um…I guess you could say he got lung cancer in seconds, and it progressed to Stage Four in about that same time."

Violetta snorted, and then actually laughed. "I imagine the coroners cutting him up for autopsy would find his lungs a mass of tumors, _da_?" she asked.

"Well, yes." Sakura said.

Violetta smirked approvingly, and looked at Touko with a congratulatory air. "Your apprentice is suitably ruthless, Grand Magus." She observed.

"So she is." Touko agreed with a nod at Sakura, who nodded back.

"I'm more concerned about those…symbols," Caules began. "That were on the sash that priest was wearing. They hurt to look at. Surely that's a cause for concern?"

"It is." Violetta agreed. "But we'd already looked into it. In fact, it was one of the first things we looked into. Apparently, it only hurts if you're a magus or a spell-caster. The sigils have latent significance of their own, and our bodies subconsciously recognize and respond to them in a defensive fashion. Fear not: it's not harmful, at least the ones they show in public."

"In other words," Touko said. "The ones they don't show in public – yet – are the ones which can cause harm."

"Indeed they are." Violetta agreed.

"Sounds like a lot like runes, master." Sakura observed.

"…they do, don't they?" Touko said. "Though I'll need to know more before committing either way."

"You will have what you need soon enough, Grand Magus." Violetta said, and Touko nodded in agreement.

"I'm sure I will."

* * *

"What?" Violetta asked shortly after their arrival at the Migunov Estate. "His Excellency left just now?"

"Yes," the mustachioed manservant said with a nod. "You missed him by about ten minutes. A situation had developed in the slums, though His Excellency left instructions to welcome Grand Magus Aozaki and her party with all that is due to honored guests."

"…what kind of situation?" Violetta asked in a dangerous tone.

"Nothing too serious," the manservant said with raised hands. "But apparently statues inside the district had started weeping blood and there were…manifestations, in darker and more remote areas of the slums. The report also made mention of scratching from inside the walls."

"…not too serious then…" Violetta said, beginning to pace. "…but still quite serious if statues are weeping blood in the open, and we've got actual hauntings taking place in the daytime."

The manservant wiped at his face with a silken handkerchief. "The report also mentioned…moaning noises, coming from inside tombs and mausoleums." He said.

Touko's eyebrows rose. "The dead are rising from their graves?" she asked incredulously.

"Not as such," Violetta said. "It's more they make noises, but when you open the grave, the most they do is sit up before collapsing. Count Migunov's investigation leans towards the conclusion that whatever rituals the cult's been up to, it's causing spirits of some kind to try and find hosts inside the dead."

"That makes sense." Sakura said with a nod. "The vast majority of spirits aren't powerful enough to possess Human beings, or even other animals. Without external assistance, like say, modifying the host the way we magi do when we make animals into familiars, rejection is all too likely an outcome."

"That," Touko added. "Or it results in mutations to a greater or lesser degree."

"That's all academic, though." Caules pointed out. "I mean…right now those spirits aren't powerful enough to make proper hosts of the dead, but the more the cults engrave their mysteries into the land, the more powerful they become. Sooner or later, if nothing is done, they'll be powerful enough to succeed, and the dead _will _rise from their graves."

Caules then paused, and then shrugged. "So to speak, of course." He said. "It's not true resurrection, since that's impossible to pull off even for magicians."

"And we _are_ doing something about it." Violetta firmly said. "Your contributions will be most helpful, though. But the details of that will have to be discussed with Count Migunov on his return. Jora, their rooms have been prepared, have they not?"

"They have been." The manservant – Jora – said with a nod. He gestured, causing two of the maids standing along the walls to step forward and give a curtsy. "Vasiliska and Varya will show you to them. Feel free to rest and freshen up for when His Excellency the Count returns. Should you have need of refreshment, then do not hesitate to ask."

Touko nodded, while both Sakura and Caules gave polite bows. Then following after the maids, went to their rooms.

* * *

"Hey there." Caules said with a knock on the door as he entered Sakura's assigned room.

"Hey yourself." Sakura said, busy unpacking and putting her clothes inside the closet. "How's your room?"

Caules hummed while looking around Sakura's room. "About the same as yours." He said. "There's a bed, a coffee table with chairs around it, another table and more chairs by the window, and a personal toilet and bathtub."

Sakura laughed before stopping what she was doing, and walking over to the bed, sat down. "Shame we can't share a room, huh?" she said, patting the space next to her.

"Hmm…but our hosts would have had no way of knowing." Caules said while sitting down next to his girlfriend, and put an arm around her. Sakura hugged him back, leaning her head against his shoulder. "Something wrong?"

"Not sure…" Sakura said. "…but I'm getting a bad feeling ever since we arrived in this city. I…I'm not sure what it is…it's like…like an itch that you can't get at…something nagging at the back of your mind, as though you'd forgotten something but can't figure out what…"

Sakura trailed off with a snort. "Though," she said. "It's largely gone away once we entered the Migunov bounded fields."

"…while I'm glad you're not being bothered anymore," Caules said while rubbing Sakura's arm comfortingly. "That's still not very reassuring. Especially since you have Imaginary Numbers, which makes you quite sensitive when it comes to spiritual matters."

"Yeah…I know…" Sakura worriedly said.

Caules was silent for a long moment, and then smiling squeezed Sakura's shoulder reassuringly. "Don't worry." He said. "We'll figure this out sooner or later, and put a stop to it. We'll get your master's prize, the Count's good word for the Association, and then go home like heroes."

Sakura laughed and looked up at him. "That's just like you, Caules." She said. "Always so optimistic."

Caules smiled wider, and leaning down, rested his forehead against Sakura's. "I guess I am." He said. "But you don't really think that's a bad thing, do you?"

Sakura giggled, moving her body so she could put her arms around Caules' neck, and letting herself fall backward onto the bed, pulled him down on top of her. "Nope." She said with a grin. "Not one bit."

Caules laughed, and then leaning down, captured her lips for a kiss. Sakura responded enthusiastically, holding tighter onto Caules and moaning happily into the kiss, until they broke apart for breath several moments later.

"Let's stop there for now." Caules said, still looming above his girlfriend. "There's still plenty of daylight, and our hosts might invite us to a snack in a bit."

Sakura pouted in disappointment, only to give Caules a smile in the next moment. "Fine," she said. "But tonight…?"

Caules laughed while turning away, falling into bed next to Sakura, rolling onto a side to face her. "I'll see what I can do." He said.

Sakura giggled, also rolling onto a side to face Caules, and bumping her forehead against his again. "Deal." She said.

* * *

A/N

Yeah, shit's coming down in Omsk. But that's what happens when you live under the Omskbird's wings.


	6. Chapter 5

Disclaimer: I do not own the Fate franchise it belongs to Kinoko Nasu and Type-Moon.

Aozaki and Tohsaka – The Book of the Four Faces

Chapter 5

Count Migunov was a tall and bear-like man, sporting a neatly-trimmed beard and a close-cropped head of hair. Dressed in formal wear, he gave a courtly bow over Touko's extended hand, before rising back up with a hospitable smile and air. "Grand Magus Aozaki," he began. "I am Count Victor Vadimovich Migunov, and it is an honor to welcome one of your stature and achievement to my humble home."

"I am grateful for your hospitality, my lord." Touko graciously said with a matching smile. "Your household, in particular, has been nothing but courteous to me and my companions."

Touko paused, and then gestured to said companions. "Allow me to introduce my apprentice, Sakura Tohsaka." She said, and Sakura gave a bow Japanese-style, to which the count responded with a courtly bow of his own. "And her esteemed colleague from the Department of Modern Magecraft Theories, Caules Forvedge."

Cauled bowed as well, to which the count responded in turn. He then gestured at the seats around them. "Please, sit." He said, waiting until they were all seated before sitting himself. Maids then stepped forward and served tea, of the strong brews known to be favored by the Russians.

Count Migunov waited until tea had been served and all had taken a drink before speaking once more. "So, Grand Magus," he began. "How might I be of assistance to you?'

"Well, you see, my lord," Touko replied. "I believe we might be able to help each other here."

"Oh?"

"You are facing a potential incident thanks to the activities of the Cult of the Four Faces, are you not?" Touko asked. "I have no doubt you could resolve it in ample time given your pedigree and achievements, but I am willing to assist to bring it to a close much sooner than would otherwise be the case."

"As you say," Count Migunov said with a nod. "Though, I would certainly not refuse your esteemed assistance. I notice, however, that this would only be a case of you assisting me, when you mentioned mutual assistance."

Touko smiled. "As you know, my lord," she said. "While I am known for my puppetry and innovations in the field of broomcraft, I am ultimately an adept in the study of Human history. Or to be specific, the study of Humanity's development as a species from the Age of Gods to the present day."

"Well, yes," Count Migunov said with a slow now. "You'll pardon me if I'm unaware of the details, but I am aware of your membership in and great contributions to the collective knowledge of the Clock Tower's Department of Archaeology."

Touko nodded graciously before taking a drink of her tea. "Over the past year," she continued. "I was in the United States, in the New England region to be precise. My business was the study of pre-colonization Humanity in the region, in particular, the old tales of interaction between natives and what could potentially have been Phantasmal Species from the neighboring Atlantic. My studies took me across the whole region, and up into the neighboring Appalachian Mountains."

Touko paused to take another sip of her tea. "I suppose I might have…provoked, the natives." She admitted. "No one would appreciate the graves of their ancestors and relatives getting dug up, and then cut apart in the name of research."

Count Migunov gave a jesting smile. "With all due respect, Grand Magus," he said. "But there is the old saying that archaeology is but grave robbery given legal sanction."

Touko laughed at that, while both Caules and Sakura gave a smile. "True, true," Touko admitted after her laughter had run its course. "But more to the point, the natives decided to demonstrate their…displeasure, in a most extreme fashion."

"I imagine you soon put them in their places." Count Migunov observed.

"So I did." Touko said with a nod. "The first few times I was content to not retaliate, but after a while their persistence began to prove annoying. So I made an example…and in the process, found something of interest."

"Oh?"

Touko leaned forward. "I suppose they could be called mystic codes for lack of a better term," she said. "But their primitive design would have the Clock Tower's Board of Standards throw a fit."

"And what do _you_ think, Grand Magus?" Count Migunov asked.

Touko sat back before answering. "Primitive they might be," she admitted. "But when both mystic codes go back over five thousand years, then no matter how crude they might appear, their value is beyond question."

Count Migunov toasted Touko at that, which she returned before they drained their teacups. "And?" Count Migunov prompted while refilling their teacups like a good host. "How does your discovery relate to your business in my city?"

"They led me here." Touko said, and Count Migunov gave her a sharp look of surprise. "Or rather, the area around your city. The mystic codes allow the practitioners of the native religion to find…brother and sister faiths, of their own, and my studies of said mystic codes and their operation point to the closest one being somewhere in the countryside outside of Omsk."

"…I see."

Touko smiled. "I can show you if you wish." She said. "A show of good faith, to demonstrate my sincerity."

"I am honored by your confidence in me." Count Migunov said. "If so, then I would reciprocate by similarly showing you recovered artefacts and other materials from the Cult of the Four Faces. Though I must ask, Grand Magus: why do you seek the heart of the cult? What do you seek to gain from it?"

"Why," Touko said with a slight air of surprise. "The only thing worth gaining from wretches such as the ones we must deal with. Knowledge of ancient times, lingering genetic sequences from dalliances between Humans and Phantasmal Species in times past, perhaps even mysteries dating back to forgotten beings of the Age of Gods. It matters not whether they have practical value or not. Just knowing is reward enough for efforts exerted, and resources consumed."

For several long moments, Count Migunov was silent, staring at Touko. Then he smiled, and toasted her once more. "Spoken like a true magus," he said. "Grand Magus Aozaki, it truly is an honor to meet and speak with you."

Touko smiled and nodded, before returning. Drinking from their teacups, they then turned in a newly-arrived manservant's direction. "My lords and ladies," he said with a polite bow. "Dinner has been served."

Count Migunov nodded, and then got to his feet. "Grand Magus Aozaki," he began. "We should continue this discussion after dinner. In the meantime, I would continue to offer my hospitality to you and your companions. And of course, I would be most honored if they could tell me about themselves."

Touko smiled and nodded, even as she and her companions got to their feet. "I'm sure Caules and Sakura will be able to tell you all about themselves, my lord." She said, even as they followed him to the dining room.

"I look forward to it." The count replied.

* * *

Dinner was an uneventful affair, if rather heavy, with two salad courses followed by a meat course stewed with tomatoes. There was plenty of black bread, still steaming fresh from the oven, all courses served with wine or vodka. Well, Count Migunov and Touko went with vodka, while Caules and Sakura went for wine, white with salad, and red with meat.

The dinner conversation wasn't particularly eventful either, just Caules and Sakura telling what was already publicly-available (in the Clock Tower) about their abilities. Some stories from the Department of Modern Magecraft Theories were also shared, but none of the particularly juicy ones: Lord El-Melloi II would not have been amused.

Dessert was served with tea, which helped clear the slight haze of alcohol starting to cloud their heads, and then they retreated to a sitting room where more tea was served. A phonograph played on a plinth in a corner of the room, soothing notes of Mozart's composition drifting through the air of the room.

Then Touko opened a small case she'd brought from her room, and pulled out a piece of parchment, dry and crumbling with age. The magi leaned over it, and a faint sense of unease tugged at their minds even as the contents of their stomachs seemed to curdle.

Blue flashed over exposed skin as magic circuits came to life, and the unease and curdling stopped. Count Migunov was not reassured: this…artefact, was clearly magically-active, even without prana being poured into it.

"If I may say so," Caules said while adjusting his glasses. "But that looks like a map of the world to me."

"It is." Sakura agreed. "But I strongly doubt it's very accurate."

"I'm more concerned with something this old somehow showing the whole world." Count Migunov darkly said. "It's generally-accurate, except it can't be. No one at the time could have known about the world's geography to that extent. Not even the gods, seeing as they themselves would have been limited by the perceptions of their followers and their respective domains."

"I've dated it to around 3000 BC." Touko said. "Of course, that's an approximate number, but the point is, you are correct, my lord. To an extent: Humans by themselves could not have known enough about the world's geography to make this map. The gods…well, from our understanding that is the orthodox position."

"You disagree?" Count Migunov asked.

"In the Age of Gods," Touko said. "Logic and reason were about as concrete as the laws of physics. The gods, or some of them at any right, might have known about the whole world's geography. Enough to show their followers how to make this, or perhaps even made it and then gifted it to them."

Touko paused, and then tilted her head. "The True Ancestors would certainly have known all about the world's geography." She pointed out. "And they wandered freely across the Earth in the Age of Gods. It only takes one instance, and no matter how improbable it might, but that instance is enough to prove it possible."

"A fair point." Count Migunov conceded before turning his attention back to the map. His eyes narrowed at the…script, inscribed along the edges of the map. "Have you deciphered these inscriptions?"

"Unfortunately no." Touko groused. "They do not match any of the ancestral and prototypical alphabets I know of. Perhaps given time, I might find a match in the archives of the Department of Archaeology. But I suspect this cult might provide the key to deciphering those inscriptions."

"…the natives you got this from," Count Migunov then asked. "They could not decipher it?"

"No, they could not." Touko unhappily admitted. "The knowledge is lost even to them. I made quite the few _pointed_ inquiries, and even then, the most the elder shamans could tell me was that the letters belonged to the elder ones from the depths above and below."

Touko paused again, stroking her chin in thought. "…clearly figurative language," she finally admitted. "Which I hypothesize refers to the sky and ocean."

"The sky hypothesis makes sense," Count Migunov agreed with a nod. "But the ocean?"

"The Phantasmal Species the natives were reputed to have bred with came supposedly came from the sea."

"Ah yes…my apologies, Grand Magus."

Count Migunov then looked back at the map, and traced the outlines of the continents with his fingers. "What is this map made of?" he asked.

"The drawings and inscriptions are all blood, though not Human, or any animal my instruments could recognize." Touko replied.

"And the parchment itself?" Count Migunov pressed.

Touko smiled without mirth. "Human skin." She said, and the count recoiled in revulsion. Touko's smile widened, and then she turned to her apprentice. "Sakura…earlier you mentioned this map couldn't be accurate, didn't you?"

"Yes, I did, master."

Touko then reached into the case again, and pulled out what looked like a rough disk of obsidian, bone and meteoric iron driven into its center to make a crude compass. Placing it on the map, Touko then pulled out a bottle of crimson fluid, and used a dropper to deposit what was clearly blood or some…concoction, made from blood, on the compass. Just a few drops, but it was enough.

Eyes widened and mouths fell open in shock and amazement…

…and in the next instant, everyone was grinding their teeth, as magic circuits burned hot, resisting the…pressure, from the map. Far from two-dimensional, the map had taken on a three-dimensional quality, boundaries and countries crisscrossing and overlapping in ways that would not have looked out of place in the work of surreal artist Maurits Escher.

Sakura shook her head. "…I see your point, master." She said.

And before anyone could stop her, she reached forward, and _into_ the map…

…only to draw back with a hiss, the magic circuits on her hand glowing angrily. "Sakura!" Touko barked. "What were you…no, wait. You found something out?"

"…spatial manipulation." Sakura said, rubbing at her hand. "Not based on Imaginary Numbers, or anything like your spatial mysteries, master. But still spatial manipulation for all that."

Sakura then glanced at the map, narrowing her eyes before seeming to look _into_ the map, and then recoiled rubbing at her eyes. "…that map is not normal, even by magi standards." She finally said. "It's not flat…not flat at all…"

"I don't like this." Count Migunov growled. "I don't like this at all!"

Steel hissed as an Azoth Dagger was drawn, and then stabbed into the map. An unearthly scream was all but outright heard, and then Touko raised an eyebrow as blood bubbled from where the count's dagger had stabbed into the map.

"Omsk…" Count Migunov snarled, eyes blazing as he stared at the map of his city and the surrounding countryside that now stretched out over the parchment. "…what are those freaks and maniacs planning to do to my city?"

"Good question," Touko said. "And one we'll need to answer before we can do anything about it."

* * *

The manservant bowed himself after retrieving his master's documents, which he then shared with Touko. "The transcripts of interrogations of captured cultists." Count Migunov said.

Touko nodded her thanks, before gesturing at Sakura and Caules, who immediately began perusing the documentation. Meanwhile, Touko pulled out a mystic code, and placing it on a table, aimed it a wall. Prana pulsed into the mystic code, which then began to project a recording onto the wall.

"Impressive…" Count Migunov remarked.

"Then please," Touko said. "Feel free to keep it as a gift."

"Ah…my thanks, Grand Magus." Count Migunov said.

Then both of them turned back to the wall, watching as Touko stood on the edge of a lake of some kind, surrounded by a small army of her puppets. "I assume one of your puppets was making the recording?" Count Migunov asked.

"Indeed," Touko replied.

Again, silence fell, but for the mystic code.

"_Bring them up." Touko said with a gesture._

_Puppets responded wordlessly, pulling looped around a sturdy branch hanging over the lake, and with loud splashing and pained coughs and gasps, a trio of bruised and beaten natives were pulled out of the lake. Their hands were bound, the three of them tied to each other, and the end of the rope pulled by the puppets bound around their feet._

"_So?" Touko asked with a mocking smile. "From what I understand, your ancestors lived in the sea, didn't they? Some of your relatives today still do, from the sound of things. So I'm sure the lake water tasted good, didn't it?"_

"…_wretched…bitch…" one of the natives gurgled. "…Sun-born…whore…"_

"…_you think this means anything?" a second native gurgled. "…you are but a…worm crawling…ignorant of the truth of the world…"_

"…_do your…worst…" the last native spat. "…we fear…you not…"_

"_Oh I'm just getting started." Touko responded with a sadistic smile. "Enjoy the water, boys. Because when the Sun rises…oh yes…you and your ancestors are creatures of the water, aren't you? It's going to be fun."_

Touko poked and prodded at the mystic code, adjusting the recording to something more relevant. Then both Caules and Sakura started at the shrill screaming coming from the recorder, two of Count Migunov's guards bursting into the room, only to relax and depart with apologetic bows as they saw what it was, and at a gesture from their master.

_A…person? Freak…whatever they were, considering they could barely pass for Human, with their pale, scale-covered skin, equally pale and thinning hair, gilled neck and webbed hands, and a mouth filled with fangs, screamed from where they'd been bound spread-eagled on a bronze disc, stripped naked and exposed to Sun high in the sky._

"_Start talking." Touko warned at another freak, bound on his knees and surrounded by her puppets. "Or your…mate, will fry, followed by your spawn, and then I'll make you beg for death. Trust me, it won't be pretty, especially since your kind are supposed to be immortal…"_

_The freak spat a gobbet of acidic saliva at Touko's face, who briefly screamed and grabbed at her face, only to collapse in moments as the acid melted her exposing her skull before dissolving it as well. Rotting bone and brain matter oozed out onto the ground, even as the puppets beat the freak to an inch of his life._

_Then a heavy wooden case to one side burst open, and Touko sat up, looking very angry. "Big mistake." She glared at the freak, before gesturing._

_Puppets moved up, carrying legs and a frame, onto which they hoisted a gigantic lens. It focused the light of the Sun, and the female freak screamed some more as she was literally broiled alive. Still the freak refused to speak, even as his mate died, then his spawn one by one, but as the last of them was reduced to charred meat and blackened bone by the noon Sun, the freak was clearly breaking._

_Then Touko began taking out their eggs, and she broke them one by one, even going so far as to brutally tear out a near-complete hatchling and reducing it to mush under her boot._

"Your ruthlessness is most impressive, Grand Magus." Count Migunov remarked with awe and approval.

Touko just shrugged. "They're spawn of Dagon and Hydra." She said. "I don't see any reason to waste pity much less mercy on seaspawn like them."

"Indeed."

Then they turned back to the screen as the broken freak finally talked. He spoke of his kind, of their various colonies and outposts along the coast, and the ancient city of Y'ha-nthlei, eternal and undying, beneath the sea. He then spoke of their far-flung kin, not just those that dwelt beneath the Atlantic and the Pacific, but even on the land, in dark and half-forgotten places such as in the woods and mountain glens, and even in the vastness of the steppes.

The freak then spoke of their gods, of Dagon and Hydra, of great Cthulhu and his kin. Then reverence turned to fear, as he spoke of a certain monastery on the high plateau of Leng, where dwelt the Unspeakable King, sworn enemy of his kind, whose hatred and malice knows neither beginning nor end.

He then directed Touko to where she might find the elder shamans, who alone possess the ability to recognize and so speak to their kin should they ever come to meet. Before the stars aligned, and great Cthulhu once more.

Until then, they would remain in the shadows, waiting and watching, for the day when Humankind would cease to be, and they could claim the promised inheritance.

Touko then adjusted the recording again, this time to her interrogations of the elder shaman.

_The freak screamed as electricity coursed through his body, from a pair of nails driven into his thighs, clipped then wired into the local electrical grid. "Now then," Touko said after turning off the grid. "Will you tell me about your…"_

_The freak spat at Touko…_

…_and then gaped as she just wiped the saliva off, and against a table. It smoked and hissed as wood rotted away, but Touko herself was unharmed. "You must think Humans are so stupid they would never figure out a way to adapt to your kind's tricks." Touko said while picking up a bottle marked HCl. "Unfortunately, I'm not Human. I'm a __**magus**__. One of the best of them all."_

_Then she poured acid on the freak's hand, the man screaming as his flesh sloughed off his bones before they too began to break apart. "Now…talk." Touko demanded. "Where are your materials? How do you use them? What are they meant to do? What do you know of your kind's long-term plans? Everything…tell me __**everything **__about you and yours."_

_The freak just glared stubbornly at Touko, who sighed at such defiance. Then walking over the switch on the wall, she flipped it, and the screaming resumed once more._

"This one's interrogation took quite a while, especially after he broke." Touko said, and pausing the recording. "He told me a lot about his kind, and of their relatives under the sea. Should I have the time, I'll petition the Clock Tower for an expedition to storm…whatever they call that city of theirs. There's just so much to learn."

"Hmm…I suppose so…" Count Migunov said, now watching as Touko dumped the elder shaman into a vat full of formaldehyde, ignoring his struggles as he drowned in the poisonous yet preservative fluid, and capping the vat, hermetically-sealed it.

"And now it's led me here." Touko said. "The Cult of the Four Faces is the most active of this…shadow conspiracy, for lack of a better way to call them, of freaks, mutants, and half-breeds. Like I said, my lord, we have mutual interest to achieve in cooperation. You put an end to their plans, and I acquire additional materials and experimental subjects for my research."

"…going into the countryside will be difficult." Count Migunov said after a moment. "Unlike here in the city, the local Orthodox Church holds sway in the countryside, barring a steppe tribe which actually wanders through this region about once a year. Said steppe tribe might even be what you're looking for, though I can't say for sure."

"…Orthodox Church, huh?" Touko murmured. "Not exactly Rome's subordinates, but as you and I know, they cooperate when it comes to the supernatural."

"If you wish to enter their domain, then I cannot and will not stop you." Count Migunov said. "However, the most I can help you with them is give you my official sanction. As the Second Owner of the territory, we have a…mutual understanding. Certainly not an alliance, but there is an unspoken agreement to avoid…stepping on each other's toes, and to cooperate in ensuring shared interests such as masking the supernatural world's existence from the public among others."

"Speaking of which," Touko began. "I assume the Orthodox Church has taken action against the Cult of the Four Faces?"

"In the city?" Count Migunov asked. "Not beyond providing support in keeping the cult's activities secret. Their manpower is spread thin across the region, and in any case, their sphere of interest here is the countryside, not the city."

"I see." Touko said with a nod. "Well then, my lord, I'd be most grateful to receive your written sanction. Should we ever encounter the Church, your word will go a long way to prevent unnecessary confrontations, and if confrontations prove necessary, then at the very least, keep them civil and without degenerating into violence."

"That would be ideal, yes." Count Migunov said with a nod. "I'll have it ready by morning, before your departure."

Touko nodded. "I'd be most obliged, my lord." She said, before turning to her companions, still busy going through the count's transcripts. "Now then…before we head to bed…Sakura, Caules, what have you found?"

* * *

A/N

No, this is not abandoned.

HCl – Hydrogen Chloride, better known as Hydrochloric Acid.


	7. Chapter 6

Disclaimer: I do not own the Fate franchise it belongs to Kinoko Nasu and Type-Moon.

Aozaki and Tohsaka – The Book of the Four Faces

Chapter 6

One by one, they filed into the room, the chosen offerings to the gods of the sky, of the four ancestral aspects of every living being to ever look up at the stars, whose names had been forgotten to the sands of times, and yet continued to echo unheard in the hearts of men. Twelve they were, comely young virgins untouched by unclear hands, clad in sheer silks of white, their long hair arranged into luxurious piles under crowns of gold.

In the guttering light of the candles, they entered the Chamber of Sacrifice, and taking their places, sat and then lay down on a sacrificial tablet each. The high priest raised his staff, made from lightning-struck elder wood, and then slammed it down once against the ground. The dull note echoed across the chamber, and then the choirs of acolytes began to chant.

Syllable after syllable echoed gutturally in the chamber, up the shaft leading above through the ceiling, and thence into the corridors and passageways of the temple. Slowly but surely, the echoes filled the whole of the temple, until at last, it seemed as though an infinitely-vast choir sang an infinitely-enduring hymn of praise and longing.

The high priest raised his staff once more, and then brought it down. At the dull note, other priests rhythmically raised and struck their own staffs, made from carved ash, their dull notes forming a powerful yet subtle undertone to the chanting of the acolytes.

The chanting and the beating continued, until after a full hour, when the high priest raised his staff and struck the ground a third time. The priests and acolytes fell silent. The echoes continued for a long while yet, but then they too began to fade, vanishing into the silence of memory.

Then the high priest raised his staff, and struck the ground a fourth time. As the dull note echoed across the chamber, iron lanced up from tablets, and piercing through the backs of the offered sacrifices, tore their hearts out of their bodies. The priests and acolytes offered solemn witness to the sacrifice, even as they gasped their last, impaled hearts hanging on iron lances in the air above their bodies.

Then the high priest raised his staff, and struck the ground a fifth time. The lances withdraw back into the tablets, barbs holding the hearts in place and dragging them into the depths of the temple. Blood poured down from the sacrifices' bodies, over the tablets onto the ground, where spiraling funnels caught them and channeled them to another shift in the middle of the room, around which the tablets had been arranged.

Drop by drop, the blood fell into the shaft, sinking down into the darkness. Then the air shifted, the writhing friezes on the walls seeming to come to life ever so briefly and assuming new positions, even as black fluid bubbled up and out of the shaft. Impossibly defying the laws of physics, the bubbles flowed into a stream that wound up into the air, shimmering with reflected light even as it swallowed said light into itself.

Sloshing to and fro through the air, the fluid coalesced into a gleaming disk, reflected light turning into recognizable forms. A young man, spectacled and dressed in a sleeveless vest over a long-sleeved shirt and trousers.

A young woman, also wearing a sleeveless vest, this time over a short-sleeved shirt paired with a skirt and leggings, a ribbon tied around her neck.

An older woman, spectacled and wearing a long-sleeved shirt over fitted pants.

The high priest gestured, the disk rippling in anticipation of his touch…

…the candles went out. A cold breeze blew through the chamber, bringing with it an icy chill. Priests and acolytes looked in alarm from one direction to another, and then gasping, looked on in shock and terror as the smoke of the candles merged together, swirling and then coalescing into the form of a winged serpent.

It snarled soundlessly, before lunging at the disk. The disk exploded as the serpent struck it, winds lancing outward in twelve directions and reducing the sacrifices' bodies into mulch. Again, a cold blew through the chamber, but out this time and taking the chill with it.

Priests and acolytes murmured to each other, even as the high priest rose to his feet, having been bowled over his feet at the abrogation of his prayer.

"Calm yourselves." He said softly but firmly, waiting until the chamber had fallen silent to continue. "Do not fear, but be honored, for regardless of the outcome, we have all been blessed by the presence of the divine."

The high priest raised a hand, fog swirling around his fingertips, and then massing into a cloud, briefly formed the images of the two women newly-arrived in the nearby city of Omsk. "There can be no doubt." He said. "These honored ones are blessed by a dead god dreaming. And we have borne witness to his wrath…no, if they are to be our enemies, then we must face them as equals. The gods demand no less."

Pausing, the high priest turned to face his champion standing in the shadows to the side of the door. "A worthy opponent, perhaps," the high priest continued. "Even to you, Sila."

The man bowed low, every movement causing the petal-like folds of his skin above the waist to dance. At his side, a mace seemed to drink in the very light.

The high priest turned away. "But if we are to treat them as equals," he began. "A challenge or a warning must be sent. They have already sent the challenge, with their mere presence and the slaying of the Sentinel Kusma, the gods rest his soul. So a warning must be sent, and will be."

The priests and acolytes bowed in submission before the high priest's wisdom, and nodding once, the high priest turned away, and left the chamber.

* * *

The follow morning dawned cool if humid, with the dawn light seeming to percolate into a haze across the skies over Omsk. No doubt a result of industrial pollution from the city's manufacturing districts, and not really something unique to Omsk. New York could be worse at times, and that was before factoring in the open secret that there was plutonium in the water.

Count Migunov had left early, citing – through his household – the need to inspect a series of warehouses near the city's terminal along the Trans-Siberian Railway containing goods that needed shipping both east and west. In short, one of his sources of income demanded his personal attention, and as such, apologized for not being able to join them for breakfast.

His household served Touko and company breakfast, though, and provided them the promised Letters of Authorization from Count Migunov. For breakfast there was plenty of black bread, served with butter and sliced sausages. There was also scrambled eggs, and they were all offered porridge, either hot or cold. Touko and Sakura declined, but Caules took up the offer, taking the porridge cold with a serving of jam to sweeten it up.

There was tea and coffee available, the former the usual strong, black brew favored by Russians, along with cold water. No fruit juices were offered, and no one was rude enough to ask.

Touko set down her coffee mug, and picking up a sheaf of papers from the table, slid them into a folder before gesturing at a maid. The maid approached and then curtseyed. "How may be of assistance, Miss Aozaki?" she asked.

"Have these brought before Count Migunov on his arrival." Touko replied. "Inform him it may prove useful on his efforts against the Cult of the Four Faces."

"I'll be sure to present it to my lord personally, Miss Aozaki." The maid said, and receiving the folder with a bow.

"What was that, master?" Sakura asked.

"I'm going to guess it involves those puppets you sent out last night, with Count Migunov's permission." Caules said before Touko could reply.

"That is correct." Touko said with a nod. "Most of it's just movements of known elements of the Cult of the Four Faces, and which Count Migunov already knows based on what he's shared with us. Some of it, though, he probably doesn't, including what looks like several new safe houses and front operations."

"Front operations…" Sakura echoed. "If I remember correctly from last night, we already know that the cult operates a number of brothels and drug dens."

"Primarily to make money for them to use, and possible to make sleeper agents by planting conditional instructions in the heads of the customers or some other way of influencing them." Touko said before forking some egg and sausage into her mouth. She chewed and swallowed before continuing. "That said, a number of high-end clubs and establishments may also be front operations for the cult, though, or at least influenced by them. The police are definitely compromised, though, and to a greater degree than the count already knows. And he _needs_ to know as soon as possible."

Touko paused to take another drink. "On another note," she said. "One of my puppets managed to listen in on a rather…interesting conversation."

Sakura and Caules looked curious at that, and Touko smiled. "It was a conversation between truckers, made over the glass in the pleasure district." She said. "It involved a shipment of supplies up to the monastery at Angel's Point a few days ago, with the truck driver saying he'd never come take another shipment up there ever again."

"And why not?" Caules asked while adjusting his glasses.

"Bad weather apparently all but wrecked his truck on the way to and from the monastery." Touko replied. "And on the way back, tribesmen from the steppe attacked him, using his truck as target practice for rifles and bows and arrows. That, and…eerie, lack of any person or animal across the steppes. Not even birds or dogs…and something else too…something that had the man frightened all but out of his wits, from what my puppet could see."

"And that is?" Sakura prompted.

"He didn't say." Touko replied. "Either out of fear or because the other truckers would make a fool out of him if he did. His fear was genuine, though, as was his desperation when he mentioned he'd be selling everything he owned to get out of town and take the train as far as it goes to the west."

Sakura and Caules shared a look. Touko shrugged and took a drink of her coffee. "It's rather circumstantial," she admitted. "But my gut tells me that looking in on that monastery over at Angel's Point might be a good place to start our hunt for the cult."

"You think the Church is crooked, master?" Sakura asked.

Touko snorted and raised an eyebrow. "Organized religion of any kind is always crooked," she said. "Don't you know that?"

"Sorry…"

Touko shrugged. "Religion and power should never mix." She said. "They feed into each other's worst, and cancel out each other's best. Read a history book and you will see. Religion is something that individual people should on their own, and never decided for them by silly old men with delusions of self-righteousness and divine purpose."

"Yes, master." Sakura said with a nod.

* * *

Hours later, and they were bouncing along a road into the Siberian steppes, away from the city of Omsk. Literally bouncing along: the asphalt of the road was cracked and pitted, with some potholes going deeper than the asphalt and into the concrete below.

"How you doing?" Touko asked between 10:30 and 11:00, all the while handing Sakura – who was driving – a sweet bun filled with jam.

"…I'm honestly surprised the suspension hasn't given out on us." Sakura grouched while accepting the offered sweet.

"Paradox of Soviet engineering, Sakura." Caules said while nodding gratefully at Touko, as she also handed him a sweet bun filled with jam. "The infrastructure might need more maintenance to last compared to in the West, but their vehicles are sturdy. _Very_ sturdy…you could take this jeep off-road for months and so long as you don't drive over Czech hedgehogs or land mines, the suspension will last."

"In other words," Sakura grouched. "The roads are crap, but the autos can take the crap and up to three times at that."

"…close enough, I suppose." Caules admitted after a moment, before biting into his bun. "Oh, blueberry…what about you, Sakura? What have you got?"

Sakura bit down into her bun, and shrugged. "Blackberry…what about you, master?" she asked. "What's the filling in your bun?"

"Raspberry…" Touko replied after a bite. "…hang in there, kid. Besides, you're a magus, aren't you? An uncomfortable ride's nothing compared to being one."

"Well, if you put it that way…"

"That's the spirit!"

Relative silence fell as the party continued their trip across the steppes, the only sounds to be heard the rumbling of their engine, the soft grinding of their wheels against the road, the squeaking of the suspension as they jostled to and fro, and the shifting of their bodies against the worn leather of their seats.

"How far is this monastery from Omsk, again?" Sakura asked.

"About two days on a jeep like this." Caules replied.

Sakura quickly swept the horizon with her gaze, only the patchy, dark-colored thread of the road breaking the monotony of grass-covered plains stretching out as far as the eye could see. "Really scenic…" she sarcastically remarked. "…is it all like this?"

"This is Siberia." Caules said. "The heart of Russia…yeah, it's as big as it looks, and what you can't see is even bigger. Empty too, for the most part. The steppes aren't fertile enough to make farming worthwhile, and most of the local water supply just isn't enough."

"Omsk used to have a number of collective and state farms around it, though." Touko chimed in. "Synthetic fertilizers made up for poor soil, while water was redirected from the Om and Irtysh for irrigation. At least, that was the plan."

"As you know," Caules continued with a nod. "Collective farming wasn't very effective, between poor management, lack of incentive for farm laborers to put in real effort, substandard equipment and supplies both in terms of quantity and quality…"

Caules trailed off with a shrug. "The state farms were a bit more successful," Touko added. "Though not so much that they stayed competitive and worth supporting once the Soviet Union fell. The laborers moved back into the city for better opportunities, with many heading west to European Russia."

"Meaning the former farmlands here have been lying fallow for over a decade now." Caules said. "I hear the Russian government is trying to sell them off to either get agriculture back up and running, or develop them into suburban communities, but they're not very successful. Give or take a few years, and who knows?"

"…farms aren't that much of an improvement over the steppes." Sakura said after a moment. "Just wheat or rye or some other crops replacing all this grass. That, or herds of sheep or cows or whatnot out on pasture."

"But," Caules said with a smile, and glancing sideways at Sakura. "It'd still be an improvement, wouldn't it?"

Sakura glanced his way, and after a moment, smiled back. "Yeah," she admitted. "It would be."

* * *

They took their lunch to the side of the road, under an ash tree. They had black bread and butter, along with pork dumplings of some kind that the Migunov household had supplied them with as a gift for their trip. They also had bottled water and canned soft drinks, and cheesecake for dessert.

"…thank the gods for small mercies…" Sakura muttered as she sat back against the worn bark of the ash tree, looking up at the green of its canopy while drinking water from a bottle.

"What does that mean?" Caules curiously asked.

"A tree…this tree to be precise…" Sakura answered. "…it might only be one, but that one breaks the monotony nicely. That, and its shade is much bigger than the jeep's, so we don't have to eat under the Sun."

"Well, we could always eat in the jeep if it comes to that." Caules cheerfully remarked. "Though, I wouldn't mind eating in the Sun either. It might be spring already, but the air's still quite cold. Especially at night."

"You better get used to the monotony, kid." Touko said before biting into a slice of buttered bread. "Until we get to the monastery, the steppes are all there are to see around here."

"Not really…" Sakura said. "…we'll have to pass by one of the few towns branching off the main road tomorrow, or we'll be out of fuel before nightfall. And we'll have to refuel again on the way back, or we'll be walking to Omsk."

Touko snorted, and then laughed. "Then I guess it's not all that monotonous, is it?" she asked.

"No…it isn't…" Sakura admitted, before giving a smirk of her own. "…at least once we get to a town, that is."

"Fair enough, kid." Touko admitted.

They finished the rest of their lunch in silence after that, after which they rested for a bit before continued on their journey. Touko lay back on the ground, pillowing her head with her arms crossed behind it, while Sakura and Caules sat next to each other against the tree trunk.

"Hey?" Caules sleepily began, just as Sakura herself began dozing off.

"Yeah?" she asked back.

"Care for a history lesson?" Caules asked again.

"I'm listening." Sakura said.

"Some of my family died in Russia, you know." Caules said to Sakura's surprise. "Well…more great-granduncles, actually…they were in the Romanian Army, and fought as part of the Axis invasion of the Soviet Union back in WWII. They died in battle…or getting taken prisoner, vanished into the gulags, never to be seen again."

Caules paused, his expression regretful and even ashamed, no doubt thinking of the hell on Earth that was the Eastern Front of WWII. "Not exactly our finest hour." He finally said.

"Hey, don't sweat it." Sakura said, looping an arm around one of Caules' own. "I'm in the same boat, aren't I? Well, me and master, actually, seeing as we – or our ancestors and country at the time – were on the same side of the war as your ancestors and country were."

Caules snorted. "That's true." He said with a smile. "Day of Infamy and all that."

Sakura laughed. "Yeah…not exactly our finest hour either." She said.

"No, it wasn't." Caules agreed, and Sakura sighed.

"Well…" she began. "I…I don't really know my family so…I don't know. Maybe some Tohsakas fought and died in that war, whether in China or across the Pacific…or maybe they just stayed at home in a safe and comfortable position to the rear…sorry, Caules. I shouldn't have run my mouth off."

Caules hummed, and then pulling his arm free, pulled Sakura into a hug and pressing a kiss to the top of her head. "It's fine." He said, Sakura hugging him back as they dozed away in the shade.

* * *

The skies blazed with orange and gold as the Sun descended towards the western horizon, and yet Touko's party continued to bounce along the battered road further into the depths of the Siberian steppes. "It's so quiet." Touko murmured, looking out her window towards the horizon.

"What was that you said earlier, master?" Sakura cheekily asked. "Get used to the monotony?"

"Don't get cheeky on me, kid."

"Sorry, master."

Touko hummed and continued looking out the horizon for several minutes. "Remember that tidbit my puppet picked up?" she asked. "Lack of people and animals out here on the steppes?"

"…the lack of people is kind of expected, though." Sakura pointed out. "It is the steppes, after all. Not much to do out in the open, so people would likely stay inside their small towns."

"Easy to get lost too, if you're not careful when going out into the steppes." Caules chimed in.

"Yeah, but where are all the animals?" Touko asked. "There should at least be some foxes running around, rodents and birds too. But I don't see or sense anything. What about your spirits, Sakura?"

Sakura was silent for a long moment, and then slowly looked at Caules. Caules looked back worriedly, and then Sakura used the rearview mirror to look at her master in the eyes. "They've got nothing either." She said. "I didn't think much of it until now, but now that you mention it…there's nothing. Nothing but cold earth and silent grasses in the winds of Siberia…"

"…something's not right here." Caules muttered.

"…we got careless." Touko hissed. "We thought all this…nothing, was nothing at all, when it's probably an indication of the threat we're facing."

"…so what's the plan, master?" Sakura asked.

"We're not turning back, that's for sure." Touko replied. "I still want the cult's holy text. But we'll have to be more careful from here on out, and ready to fight on a moment's notice. If we do, don't hold back. Kill anything that gets in our way."

"And if the monastery is compromised, then what?" Caules asked.

"I'm not particularly up for cleaning up the Church's dirty laundry, are you?" Touko asked back.

"No, ma'am." Caules said while adjusting his glasses. "But if it is, setting the whole place on fire should buy us some time to get a decent head start on getting out of there once we figure out what's going on, and get what we need. Whether it's the Book of the Four Faces, or where we can find it."

"Not a bad idea." Touko said approvingly.

"Burning down a monastery, even a compromised one, is going to cause trouble with the Church." Sakura pointed out. And then she shrugged. "Then again, it's not like we're unused to getting into trouble, are we, master?"

"Trouble's our middle name, as the Americans would say." Touko said with a smirk, and shared a laugh with her apprentice.

"On another note," Caules said with a cough. "The cult's not really going to be happy with us, whether or not we actually get our hands on the book in the monastery. I get the feeling we're making more progress into unravelling whatever schemes and secrets they're up to than the count has."

"Probably because we're an unknown quantity they haven't had to account for until we actually arrived." Sakura remarked.

"What does it matter if the cult is unhappy or not?" Touko snapped. "Just kill them and be done with it."

"True…" Sakura said with a nod.

"…it'd also be a good way to repay Count Migunov for his hospitality." Caules agreed. "Though, this cult does seem to be an international organization. We'll have to keep that in mind, in case survivors get the word out."

"Revenge?" Touko softly said, before smirking. "That's fine. Revenge and I are old friends. If these…freaks, want to go after me for revenge, let them. I'll give them a crash course on doing it right, before sending them straight to hell."

Caules glanced at Sakura, who shook her head. "Right…" Caules said while opening the glove compartment and pulling out a map. Unfurling it, he examined it and approximated their position for a few minutes, and then following the line of the road across the steppes, shook his head.

"No way we'll reach the next town before midnight." He said. "What'll it be? Should we camp out under the stars, or keep going until we reach the town?"

"What do you think, master?" Sakura asked.

Touko thought it over for several moments. "We'll take the former." She said. "It gives us more options in case things take a turn for the worst. Out here on the steppes, after all, we don't need to worry about collateral damage or witnesses. We can just let loose with our magic, and teach any idiot stupid enough to mess with us just what a mistake that is. A _fatal_ mistake."

"Got it, master."

* * *

A/N

I'll give you two guesses for the "dead god dreaming" that's marked Touko and Sakura with its favor, but you're only going to need one.


	8. Chapter 7

Disclaimer: I do not own the Fate franchise it belongs to Kinoko Nasu and Type-Moon.

Aozaki and Tohsaka – The Book of the Four Faces

Chapter 7

"Never thought a simple fire would ever come off as so cheerful." Caules said as they toasted sausages and bacon over an open fire. Despite appearances though, it was by no means a bonfire. For one thing, a bonfire was fueled by wood, or some other kind of natural fuel. The fire they sat around tonight, though…

…instead of wood in the shallow pit, there was a simple jagged arm of hard coal, and which didn't burn contrary to expectations. It wasn't the fuel, after all, not even close. It was just the body of a mystic code, anchoring the heart of said mystic code, a single shard of uncut garnet seemingly crudely jammed into a crack running across the coal.

The garnet glowed a fiery red, emitting the prana that _was_ the fuel for the fire, and channeling it in such a way that it burned once it left the gem, but in a controlled fashion that wouldn't harm its maker or her companions. Or for that matter, didn't destroy the mystic code itself.

Back to bonfires, though…fuel aside, bonfires tended to be ringed by stones to keep them from going out of control. And while the mystic code was designed so its flames wouldn't hurt its user or her companions, Touko was nothing but thorough. A simple mandala had been carved into the ground around the fire pit, a final – and _prudent _– measure in case something went wrong with her mystic code's mysteries.

"Learn to appreciate the small things, kid." Touko cheerfully said, resting back on her hands. "Trust me on this one: when the going gets tough, and life gives you lemons, it's the small things that keep you going."

"I'm pretty sure that's not how the quote goes." Sakura chimed in.

"Sakura?" Touko asked.

"Yes, master?" Sakura asked back.

"Shut up."

"Sorry, master." Sakura said, sounding suitably-chastened.

Touko immediately gave a smile to take the edge off the rebuke, though. "That said," she began. "Sakura already knows this, don't you, Sakura?"

"I grew up poor and homeless on the streets of Osaka." Sakura said with a shrug. "People like me, we only ever get the small things, and not always at that. In fact, I wouldn't say we learn to appreciate the small things, as much as we never get the luxury of not appreciating them."

"Fair enough," Caules conceded, before giving Sakura a sympathetic smile. "Though I imagine fires like these were always cheerful for you and yours, huh?"

"Oh yeah, and not just on winter nights either." Sakura said. "Even in summer, the night could get cold. More often than not we burned trash – usually paper and stuff like that – in metal drums, with the adults pushing us children as close as we safely could get to the fires to keep warm, while they made the best of the heat from behind us."

Sakura paused, and then scowled. "Of course," she growled. "The police more often than not didn't seem to appreciate us doing what we had to do."

"They were just doing their jobs, Sakura." Caules uncomfortably said.

"Yeah, sure they were." Sakura grouched, poking at a sizzling sausage with a long fork. "They'd do their jobs, and to hell with us freezing to death for it."

Caules couldn't say anything to that, while Touko just hummed. "I imagine you did something about that, the little rascal that you were back then." She mused.

"Well…" Sakura drawled.

"Please tell me you didn't kill a policeman for doing their job." Caules said with a sigh.

"I never killed anyone as a kid." Sakura immediately said.

"But you came close." Touko pressed with a grin. "More than a few times, right?"

Sakura fidgeted but didn't answer, causing Touko to laugh with loud amusement, and Caules to put an arm around Sakura's shoulders. "Well," he began. "I'm sure whatever it was, it couldn't have been that bad…"

"There was one time," Sakura interrupted. "With this shithole of a cop, who often went through the area shaking us down for money. If we didn't pay up, he'd run us in for vagrancy or whatnot."

"What did you do?" Caules asked, sounding concerned but also a bit sympathetic. Dirty cops did have what was theirs coming.

Sakura shrugged. "A bit of mental interference," she said. "And he was driving into the sea. The man nearly drowned, and I later heard he had to be checked into the hospital. Pneumonia, probably, though I remember vague rumors about him getting something worse. Never really found out, and never really cared. That shithole deserved it, and he certainly never came back."

"Somehow…I get the feeling it wasn't because he learned his lesson." Caules skeptically said.

Sakura shrugged again. "Not a clue." He said. "Maybe he got reassigned elsewhere for losing the police car assigned to him. Or something else entirely."

Caules sighed. "Well," he said. "No one's perfect."

Sakura smiled, and then leaning in, placed a kiss on his cheek for understanding. "Old Man Nakajima gave me quite the earful afterwards, though." She said.

"Old Man Nakajima?" Caules curiously asked.

"Oh, right." Sakura said with an embarrassed grin. "I've never told anyone before. He was my first teacher in magecraft, one of the elders of our little community of the poor and destitute of the City of Osaka. And secretly, a spell-caster at that. Never did learn where he learned his craft, and now that I think about it, he barely knew more than the basics."

"But he knew enough to teach them to you, huh?" Caules asked.

"Pretty much," Sakura said with a shrug. "Magic aside, though, he was – like I said – an elder. He had a _lot _of life experience, so when he said something, or more to the point, he scolded me, I tended to listen."

"I see." Caules said with a slow nod. Touko, though, just gave a derisive snort.

"Sure you did…" she teased. "…didn't seem to stick, though."

Sakura grinned. "Well," she said. "At least when it came to that particular case, the lecture was to be more subtle in the future. Even spell-casters have to respect the Masquerade, after all. And a policeman somehow driving into the sea despite not being drunk or high on drugs is far from subtle."

Touko laughed. "Fair enough…" she admitted.

Sakura grinned wider…

…and then together with Touko and Caules looked with alarm into the distance, as they all sensed someone or something break through the bounded fields around them.

"…they actually broke through master's bounded field…" Sakura breathed.

Touko narrowed her eyes. "So they did." She conceded. "But they're still intact, and they took their pound of flesh. Caules, front and center. Sakura, stay back and get ready to provide fire support."

"Got it, master." Sakura said, getting up before reinforcing her body. Then reaching into Imaginary Numbers Space, pulled out her full-sized crossbow, and sliding the ammunition drum into places, loaded and pulled back an armor-piercing bolt. "Ready."

Touko nodded, even as Caules pulled out a truncheon. Prana flooded his circuits, the Forvedge Crest stabilizing his mysteries while his truncheon began to arc with electricity. The three magi waited in silence, the minutes ticking by as though thick caramel was flowing down an inclined plate, and then they heard it.

Shambling…pained and struggling steps through the grass, headed towards them. No breathing, though, and as the shambling came closer Touko narrowed her eyes again, at the strangest sense from whatever it was.

It was…

…yes, it was though there was a void there. A small one, to be sure, breaking down and sucking in the prana of her bounded fields' efforts to bring whatever it was down. Not enough to completely protect it, but enough to keep it at least partially-functional.

_Was this really a person?_

"Here they – _it _– comes." Touko said, a finger gesturing minutely and causing the fire to roar with growing strength, casting plenty of light and long shadows with it.

The…person, or at least it looked like a person, walking towards them was pale and shaking. Their clothes hung in tatters from their person, and they didn't walk as much as they drag themselves on their feet towards the three magi. They didn't even the strength to keep their head, instead approaching with head bowed.

"That's close enough." Caules barked, only to be wrong-footed as the approaching person collapsed, falling on their face a few steps from him. The young man glanced once at Touko and then at Sakura, the latter already bracing her crossbow against her shoulder, eye staring down the sights at the target on the ground. "I'm going to check in on them, cover me."

"Got you covered." Sakura said.

Touko grimly nodded, but followed a step behind Caules, body tense with foreboding. Caules cautiously approached, and then bending down, tapped the person on a shoulder. "Hey," he began. "Are you…"

Suddenly, the person – or rather, the _husk _– heaved itself up in a grotesque spasm, dead eyes just popping as worms at least an inch thick squirmed out of them, just as they did out of the husk's mouth and ears. They were even longer too, their bodies segmented in rings of flesh, their front ends terminating in miniature fangs ringing their mouths.

The husk literally melted apart, skin, flesh, and muscle sloughing away into ooze that stank to high heaven, bubbling and splattering as worms squirmed and heaved towards what they sensed to be fresh meat and pumping blood nearby. "Blood worms!" Touko shouted, grabbing Caules and literally throwing him away. "Get back!"

Then jumping back herself, pointed with her right hand, index and middle fingers pressed together and aimed at the mass squirming towards them. She didn't say a thing, but a small mandala appeared at her fingertips, an instant before a jet of flame hot enough to melt glass and even steel erupted. The worms squirmed and hissed in pain, an instant before they turned to ash.

Even then, Touko didn't let up, baking the ground until it was hot and glowing before she finally relented. Then she spat in disgust, spittle hissing as it boiled into steam against the ground.

"…it's like the Mirror of the Sun again, master." Sakura said from the ground, tightly hugging and tightly hugged in return by Caules.

"That was just an illusion." Touko snapped. "No matter how realistic it might have seemed, it was still just an illusion. This is _reality._"

"Blood worms…" Caules breathed in disbelief. "…who the hell uses blood worms in this day and age?"

"Our enemies, that's who." Touko growled, before lowering her face even as a cold expression dawned over it. "They sent only one colony against us…are they making sport of us? Of _me_? Or is this supposed to be a warning?"

Neither Sakura nor Caules could answer, and after a moment, Touko turned to them. "Pull yourself together, apprentice." She snapped. "And go get my suitcase."

"R-right! Right away, master."

Sakura dashed off, while Caules slapped himself in the face, and shaking his head, forced himself to his feet. Touko nodded approvingly, and then turned towards Sakura as the apprentice brought her master's suitcase to said master.

Touko took her suitcase, and adjusting the numbers on the combination lock, opened one of many pocket spaces she kept inside. "They think they can screw with me, eh?" she asked venomously while placing the suitcase on the ground. "We'll see about that."

Then she opened the suitcase, and Caules recoiled while Sakura blanched as Touko's puppets crawled out of the suitcase the same way demons would crawl their way out of hell.

* * *

"The warning has been sent." A priest said.

"It has been ignored." A second priest said.

"The followers of the winged serpent god continue to trespass on our demesne." A third priest said.

"They bring forth abominations of false flesh and hollow souls to guard them on their approach." A fourth priest continued.

"Blasphemous…" the first priest said.

"…vile…" the second priest continued.

"…monstrous…" the third priest added.

"…they must be punished, and their works wiped from the face of the Earth." The fourth priest said.

The high priest raised a hand…

…and the fourth priest died without a sound, his face blank and expressionless even as he toppled back onto the ground.

"Watch your tongues." The high priest warned. "The winged serpent god may not be of the pantheon, but a god it remains, and you _will_ show it the respect due to one of divine existence."

"Forgiveness…" the three priests said while bowing low.

The high priest waved a hand. "Dispose of that…_filth_." He commanded with a gesture at the corpse of the dead priest.

Acolytes approached, and bowing once before the high priest, dragged it away to be disposed of. "Our enemies are strong." The high priest continued. "Cunning and skilled even…say what you will about their works, but they are of exceeding craftsmanship, of a kind not seen in centuries, and thought lost to the ignorance of this dark age of ours."

The high priest paused, and then nodded. "Perhaps it is even why they are favored by the winged serpent god." He said.

"What must we do?" the first priest asked.

"…an attack from the front at this time would be premature." The high priest said after a moment of contemplation. "They would be expecting it, and success would require the loss of so many brothers and sisters that we would be left vulnerable to other, lesser enemies in the aftermath. Vulnerable enough, even, to be foiled in our holy duty just as it reaches fulfilment. And that we cannot allow."

"Then what?" the second priest prompted.

"Subtlety would serve us better in this than boldness would." The high priest said. "Therefore, we shall draw them in, and allaying their suspicions, redirecting them towards other avenues and even against our other enemies. If nothing else, it would delay their interference, until our great work is done."

The high priest paused and smiled. "Yes," he said. "No matter how favored they may be by their god, even they cannot stand against the herald of the gods."

"And if direct confrontation should prove unavoidable?" the third priest asked.

The high priest smiled. "Then we shall face them in battle," he said. "And on our terms, at that."

"Truly," the three priests chorused while bowing low. "Your wisdom is grand, oh chosen and beloved by the gods. May it be as you say."

The high priest just smiled wider.

* * *

The Sun rose over the horizon, shining down over the steppes, and illuminating the waves of grass bobbing along with the morning breeze. The magi gathered themselves, and after a cold breakfast, resumed bouncing their way on the road across the steppe.

"How far until we reach the next town?" Touko after about an hour on the road.

"Hard to say considering the lack of landmarks out here." Caules said while examining the map. "Best guess, around noon, give or take an hour before or after."

Touko hummed in acknowledgement. "…alright then." She said. "I'd actually prefer not to stop, but seeing as we'd run of out fuel if we don't, it can't be helped. Still, be careful when we get there. I wouldn't be surprised if there were spies or worse in the few towns along the way, working for the cult in exchange for some rubles."

"That," Sakura chimed in. "Or because they're believers too."

Touko inclined her head. "Fair enough." She conceded.

The magi fell silent, there not being much to talk about, given the serious turn their trip had taken, and the lack of sights around them to comment on. Instead, they focused on more useful things: Sakura, for one, on driving the jeep they were riding, while also keeping in touch with the bound spirits she had watching their flanks and rear, and even scouting out the road ahead of them.

Caules also had a familiar out flying high overhead to give him a bird's eye view of their surroundings.

Touko also kept her senses extended, just in case anything slipped by the less-experienced – and less finely-tuned – senses of her apprentice and her apprentice's beau, or those of their spirits and familiar.

It was almost eleven when they finally picked up something. Sakura saw it first, standing on a low hill in the distance, a vaguely-humanoid figure looking out over the steppe, and towards the road in general. The moment her eyes fell on it, a chill ran down her spine, and causing the hairs on the back of her head to stand on end.

"STOP!" Touko barked, and Sakura immediately stepped on the brake. The jeep skidded and jolted to an abrupt half. "Did either of you sense that?"

"…something's definitely not right here." Sakura eventually said. "This place…or this area around us at least…it feels…_different_…and I saw something."

"You say something?" Touko echoed. "What? Where?"

"I…I'm not sure what I saw." Sakura uncertainly replied. "It could have been a person, probably in heavy clothes that covered their whole bodies. As for where…over there, on that low hill, though they're gone now."

"There's no one there according to my familiar." Caules chimed in. But even as he said it, he was turning a dial on the mystic code in his hands, the gauges peaking even as the antennae on top flashed brightly. "But there's definitely something off around her. This place…I'm not sure how to describe it…spiritually-active…?"

"…it could work." Sakura agreed with a slow now. "But it doesn't seem to exactly fit…"

"…yes and no." Touko cut in. "This place was spiritually-active once before, only it isn't now. But what happened here left its mark. Sakura, you said you saw something over there, right?"

"Yup…you think it was a ghost, master?"

"You're the one with Imaginary Numbers. You tell me."

"…it might have been." Sakura admitted after a few moment's thought. "It definitely wasn't a mirage I can say that much."

"Should we investigate?" Caules asked.

"…let's make it quick." Touko said also after a few moment's thought. "It could be connected to the cult, so I'd rather not take the chance of letting it pass by."

Sakura and Caules traded glances, and then nodding, dismounted from the jeep. Touko trailed after them a couple of minutes later, having taken the time to bring out a couple of puppets from storage. Eyeless faces twist in displeasure at the air they wake up to, fangs like jagged blades snarling as though in response to the unspoken challenge.

Meanwhile, the apprentice and her beau made their slow way over the step, the former holding out her hand, and the latter keeping his mystic code up, the better to find and follow their goal. As expected, it led them to the hill, which for all its height still took the better part of an hour to climb.

"There's nothing here." Caules said as they stood on the peak. "At least…nothing that we can see."

"But there's definitely something here." Sakura said, before looking down at the ground below them. "The ground's muffling my senses…Caules, can you use your mystic code to check what's under the hill?"

"Underground, huh?" Caules thoughtfully murmured. "Hang on, I need to recalibrate first."

Sakura nodded, while Caules pulled out a tool and began tweaking his mystic code. A couple of minutes later, and he was again sweeping his mystic code through the air.

"Oh yeah, there's definitely something under the hill." He finally said. "Readings are off the charts."

He and Sakura looked at Touko, who gave them a deadpan look. "Sakura," she said. "Get the jeep. You, start digging. Sakura can help once the jeep is here."

* * *

It took them the better part of the day to finish digging, the sky already turned to burning gold and fiery red by the setting Sun. Bounded fields had been erected to keep potential witnesses from noticing anything, and to keep other unwanted 'guests' away.

"…this is a temple, isn't it?" Caules said while sinking into a camp chair, and staring up at what they'd unearthed. "Or at least a shrine of some kind."

"It sure looks that way." Sakura said, wandering over to give Caules a bottle of cold water. Then she looked up at the shrine, ignoring the utility puppets which had helped them dig it up puttering around with small tasks now that the work was done.

The shrine itself was a simple one, just a rough stone altar standing in front of a four-sided monolith sticking up like a (middle) finger out of the ground. Each side of the monolith had been carved into gigantic faces, looking out onto the world from the stone.

One of them had a brutish, pugnacious face, set into a confrontational scowl, a pair of horns sticking out and then up from its temples. Another had a leering, pointed face, sculpted in such a way as though to suggest skin stretched tight over bone. The eyes of the face were elongated, grotesquely so, while a fanged grin stretched from ear to ear. Horns of varying lengths erupted from its temples and forehead seemingly at random.

The third face was little more than the upper part of a skull, blankly gazing out on the world. A trio of horns erupted from each temple, the middle one longer than the other two, and three more horns erupted from its forehead in the same fashion.

The final face though was the most human of them all, that of a beautiful woman with one of her eyes and about a third of her face hidden behind bangs falling over the left side of her face. A pair of long, wavy horns sprouted in an almost elegant fashion from her forehead.

"I'm guessing those are the four faces." Caules said.

"Yeah, I think so too." Sakura said with a nod, before gesturing in the gesture of the altar. A dead marmot – courtesy of one Touko Aozaki – rested on its side on top of the altar. "I'm guessing that's a sacrificial altar of some kind."

"Well, aren't you the smartest kid on the block?" Touko mocked with a smile as she walked past. "Come on, Sakura. Stop flattering yourself with guesses, and take a look for yourself."

"Yes, master." Sakura said with a nod, and following after Touko. Caules took a long drink, and then getting up, followed as well. Making their way to the altar, Caules blinked as he noticed something…unusual, about the dead marmot in it. It seemed…not all there anymore.

_Wait…how is that even possible?_

"That altar is active." Sakura said, sounding and looking surprised and concerned at the same time. "It's…it's not using prana, at least not in a way that I can sense. But it is active…spiritually so…I'm only sensing it because of my Imaginary Numbers."

"Good…very good…" Touko said while giving slow applause. "…completely correct on all counts. Anything else, apprentice?"

Caules refrained from making any observations, quickly realizing the master had decided to give the apprentice a quick test of her observational abilities. Sakura walked slowly around the altar a couple of times, and then narrowing her eyes, put on protective eyewear before leaning closer.

"The marmot…" she said. "…it's being _sucked into_ the altar…but how?"

"…what can you see that explains it, apprentice?" Touko prompted with an encouraging smile.

Sakura leaned back, examining the altar in further detail. Like the monolith, its sides had been sculpted, very elaborately at that, and with surprisingly-fine features, that at a distance an observer would only think of it as rough stone. On closer inspection, though, then anyone with at least a measure of observational skills would notice the details.

A throng of people, men both lean and wiry to fat and bloated, along with voluptuous women cavorting in the rain. At least, they'd thought it was rain, when they first examined the altar earlier. Now, though…

Sakura stepped back, looking resigned as she regarded the marmot again. Pulling on a pair of surgical gloves, she grabbed the marmot's fur, and pulled.

As expected, it resisted the force of her arm, as though glued to the altar. Sakura kept on pulling, and finally the marmot's body – of what was left of it – gave way, pulling free of the altar by about an inch. Sakura made a face.

"What the hell is that?" she asked.

"Suckers…prehensile ones too from the look of things." Touko said in surprise. "Huh…I suspected the altar was leeching the substance of the marmot in, but not like this. Sakura, pull the marmot completely away, as in just rip it away from the altar and throw it on the ground."

Sakura obeyed wordlessly, and recoiled as the suckers erupted from the altar, stringy flesh jerking and waving and snapping at the air after their meal, before largely recoiling back into the altar, their mouths, slurping at the blood and gore left behind. "That's disgusting." She said.

"Yes, I suppose it is." Touko said, walking closer and clapping on the shoulder. Taking a large tweezer, Touko pulled one of the suckers up, somehow keeping its struggles in check to sever it with a scalpel. The sample was then placed in a glass container and sealed away. "But it's useful data, of that I'm sure. Sakura, catalog these sculptures, both on the altar and the monolith. Caules, start setting up camp. We'll continued to the monastery in the morning."

"Got it, master."

"Yes, grand magus."

* * *

A/N

And that, dear friends, is how you deal with worms: purification by fire. You don't make deals with them, or even treat them like people in the first place. They're not people. They're _worms_.


	9. Chapter 8

Disclaimer: I do not own the Fate franchise it belongs to Kinoko Nasu and Type-Moon.

Aozaki and Tohsaka – The Book of the Four Faces

Chapter 8

"Shaped charges…" Caules murmured. "…setting aside where you could get military-grade shaped charges in these quantities…I never expected someone like Grand Magus Aozaki to sanction their use…"

"Why?" Touko asked with a curious note, as she oversaw Caules and Sakura placing shaped charges and wiring detonators around the monolith and the altar in front of it. "Because I'm an exemplar of what magi are supposed to be? Bullshit: nothing about being a magus says you shouldn't be practical and pragmatic when it comes to the means you use to achieve your ends. The kind of bullshit that traditionalists peddle in the Clock Tower and elsewhere, and try to ram down everybody else's throats just to preserve their own power and dominance."

Touko paused and then sniffed in disdain. "I am under no obligation to kowtow to their ossified and unimaginative pride and self-interest." She contemptuously spat.

"…that's…a radical, opinion…" Caules cautiously said. "…then again, you have the achievements to back it up, so…"

"Achievements including piles of corpses." Sakura cheerfully chimed in before looking at her master from the corner of an eye. "Hey master, remember Nanjing?"

_Five years ago_

_Sakura ran around a corner, bomber jacket flapping around in her wake. She held a remote in one hand, a red light flashing near its top, and then the girl was blinking as she saw her master running down the corridor towards her._

"_Oh, hey master," Sakura began. "I'm done with what you told me to…!"_

_Touko didn't mince words, grabbing Sakura by the waist and literally carrying her along, grabbed the remote from the apprentice's hand. Behind them, rushed steps could be heard of booted feet against marbled floors, before suited men carrying truncheons and tasers burst into the far end of the corridor. Chinese was shouted in their direction, but Touko just ignored them._

_Instead, she pushed the trigger on the remote._

"_H-h-hey master…!" Sakura shouted with wide eyes, but broke off as Touko literally ran them both through a floor-to-ceiling window, glass and wood breaking all around them as they burst into the open air._

_And then promptly began falling towards the Yangtze below._

"_AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA-!" Sakura screamed as the water surface rushed up to meet them, but a moment later and her screams were drowned out as the museum behind them simply blew apart in a flower of flame from the inside out._

_The present day_

"You blew up a museum?" Caules asked incredulously.

Touko rolled her eyes. "Yeah, some 'museum'." She sneered. "Everything there was a fake. And they actually had the gall to propose a trade, factory-made replicas of Shang Dynasty bronze for genuine Ming Dynasty porcelain…"

"…okay, I see how that would piss you off." Caules admitted after a moment. "But…blowing up the museum…"

"They tried to blackmail master," Sakura cut in while carefully wiring up the shaped charges on her side of the monolith. "And even boasted about selling me off on the underground slave market. Oh, and if I remember right, the man said he'd make master watch while my prospective buyer raped me."

Touko snorted. "He wasn't so smug once I turned him inside out." She said before fixing Caules with an even look. "And yes, that's literal. You ever see a person with his skeleton and internal organs on the outside? Human beings can actually survive that, you know."

"…I'll take your word for it." Caules said, looking rather ill.

"Of course," Sakura said with a laugh. "That pissed the gangsters running the museum. So…yeah, they tried to get back at us, we kicked their asses, and in the end the museum was blown up, that syndicate had its heart torn out, and the other syndicates too busy scavenging their fallen rival to even bother with us on a token basis."

"And I got to keep my genuine Ming Dynasty porcelain." Touko smugly said. "I still have it, in fact. I haven't a buyer with a satisfactory offer just yet."

Touko paused and then coughed. "Anyway," she said. "Enough about that. Get a move on, you two. Time's wasting, and we still have a long way to go. Chop-chop!"

"Right away, master!"

"Yes, grand magus."

Sakura and Caules worked silently and methodically, and about fifteen minutes later, joined Touko at a safe distance from the monolith and altar. "Armed." Touko said as she flipped the safety, and the ready light glowed a dull red. "Cover your ears, kids."

Sakura and Caules pulled earmuffs on, both noting that Touko wasn't even bothering with ear protection herself. Then again, she _was _Touko Aozaki. And then she pressed the trigger.

The shaped charges blew an instantly, and sending lances of molten copper into the ancient stonework of the monolith and altar. The explosion was loud and powerful, shaking the earth for dozens of meters all around and sending debris flying even further away. The echoes of the blast went far and wide across the empty steppes, but beyond the physical effects of the blast, there was a faint, spectral howling, as though of something that had once been great and powerful, something that had been promised a prize beyond value, howling in rage at being denied said prize.

For an instant and an eternity, the howling echoed through the ether, and then it vanished as though into an impossible distance. A soothing, even _spiritual _calm fell on all those present.

"…did it work?" Sakura asked after a few moments.

"Of course it worked." Touko said with an irritated tone.

"Seeing is believing, master." Sakura countered, looking up over the lip of the trench they'd dug earlier to shelter them from the blast. "You taught me that…and yeah, it worked. Nothing there but a smoking crater now."

"Good…very good…" Touko said. "…I'd be happier if we could plow the crater floor and sow it with salt first, but we have neither the time nor resources for that. Come on, you two. Let's get a move on."

* * *

It was almost sunset by the time they reached Angel's Point. A cold wind blew harsh and biting across the steppe, and bringing with it the mixed smells of the untamed wild and the crumbling edifice of Human civilization. Literally, in the latter case: the town of Angel's Point had the air of a refugee camp, only the town hall and a few other buildings of crumbling Soviet construction in the center of the town actually counting as proper buildings.

The rest of the town was made up of shanties, shacks, lean-tos, and even tents. They ranged from one-man affairs, to larger piles about to house whole families. As they passed through the town, they could plenty of them had even been built over the collapsed ruins of Soviet construction. Gas and electricity, maybe even modern plumbing didn't seem to be reliable out here, in stark contrast to the town they visited earlier.

Here and there, candles could be glimpsed guttering through paneless windows, and there were plenty of metal drums blazing with fires across the town. The townspeople reflected their place of residence, a curious mix of steppes tribesmen and ethnic Russians from the west. They came in all ages, from children to the old and infirm. Many of them were armed too, ranging from hunting rifles to clubs, knives, and even spears of all things.

Many of the townspeople came out to see the magi arrive, the adults with stoic indifference, the children with cautious curiosity. A few of the former crossed themselves and murmured what were probably prayers of one kind or another.

Crosses and icons of the saints were discreetly visible across the town too, as might be expected of a place built around a monastery of the orthodox faith. Said monastery stood on top of a hill, the town ringing that same hill around the bottom.

The monastery stood in stark contrast to the town below. Its curtain wall was made from pre-modern masonry, massive stone blocks chiseled into shape before being heaved into place and mortared together. Brickwork finished its exterior, the whitewashed stone stained with time and by the elements, but far more enduring than the dregs of Soviet construction.

And behind the wall, colorful church towers sprang high into the sky, topped with onion domes that Russian architecture was so famous for. As they approached the gateway through the curtain wall, a heavyset man in a monk's habit waved them to a halt.

"_Good evening,_" Touko greeted him in Russian. "_Pardon our timing, but I believe Count Migunov sent word ahead of our arrival._"

"…_ah, yes._" The monk said with a nod. "_We have been expecting you. I am Brother Ignatiy, and welcome to Angel's Point._"

The man turned away, and gesturing and shouting at the monastery serfs, had them open the gate. "_Please,_" he said, gesturing invitingly. "_Come inside. There is a place to park your jeep just to the left of the gatehouse, next to the stables. Once your jeep is parked, I will show you inside._"

Touko nodded, and passing the instructions on to Sakura, sat back on her seat while her apprentice drove their jeep to the designated parking space.

"_The abbot apologizes for not greeting you in person,_" Ignatiy said as he guided them towards a long building running along an entire section of the curtain wall. "_However, Abbot Gerasim had to attend to a sick child in the town below. Duty calls, and I pray that you understand._"

Touko nodded graciously. "_Understandable._" She said, before quickly glancing at her companions. Sakura was silent, attentively listening to Caules, the young man translating as quickly as he could.

"_As Count Migunov requested,_" Ignatiy continued. "_We've prepared accommodations for you at the Laughing Verochka, our monastery's guest hall. Well, we call it that, but it's closer to an inn…the only inn this far out into the steppes, ever since the town below began withering away…_"

The monk trailed off, but none of the magi commented on it. "_...I'll inform the abbot of your arrival._" He said as they approached what was probably the inn. "_He'll meet you as soon as possible, but in the meantime, please feel free to rest from your long trip here. This is the Laughing Verochka, and the innkeeper should be waiting with the arrangements I mentioned earlier. I must attend to my own duties, but please, should you have need of anything, just ask for me from one of the serfs. I take my leave._"

Touko nodded. "_We can handle ourselves from here._" She said. "_Thank you for guiding us to the guest hall, at least._"

"_Then I bid you a good evening, and God be with you._" The monk said with a nod, before walking off. Touko and her companions followed him with their eyes until he was out of sight, and then turned back to the Laughing Verochka.

The Laughing Verochka was a long, two-storey building, made from brick with a wooden roof. The walls had once been finished with plaster, but most of it was gone now, and the brick left stained and discolored by time and the elements. The roof certainly looked like it had been repaired many times over the decades if not centuries, and the glass panes on the windows ever so slightly smudged in a way that regular cleaning could never remove, the mark of time passing over many lives of men.

The wooden flooring seemed sound though, that much was clear as they ascended the front porch to the doors, which opened with the tinkle of metal chimes hanging from the doorframe. The walls also seemed solid and enduring despite their age, and the interior proved warm and cozy, in stark contrast to the crumbling exterior of the inn.

The floors were clean and polished, and while the dozen long tables and seats that filled up much of the interior were simple and rather threadbare, they were clean and solid, functional and sturdy in a way that fit an austere place such as the monastery. The walls were paneled in lacquered wood, icons and simple paintings solemnly looking out into the hall in the half-light of candle sticks and the common hearth on the far side of the room.

A small and somewhat twitchy man sat at a desk in one corner of the room, as the magi approached, he gave a bow. "_Welcome, welcome,_" he said in strangely-accented Russian. "_You are the ones from Omsk, yes? The ones that the monks had me prepare rooms for, sent by the old count from the city?_"

"_Yes, that's us._" Touko said with a nod. "_I am Grand Magus Touko Aozaki, this is my apprentice, Sakura Tohsaka, and our companion, Caules Forvedge._"

"_Yes…welcome, and good evening to all!_" the man said with another bow. "_I am Nikolay Svyatoslavovich Smagin, though you may just call me Kolya. Me and my kinsmen run this inn for the monks…it doesn't pay well, but it's a solid living compared to anything else out here…in any case, your rooms are waiting for you on the second floor._"

Kolya paused to turn to the wall behind him, and squinting to see in the wan light of the gas lamp sitting on his desk. After several moments of searching, he took a pair of keys from the wall, and handed it to them.

"…_Rooms 11 and 12._" The man said. "_One for the womenfolk, and one for the gentleman. Need any help carrying your things upstairs?_"

"_No, we'll manage._" Touko said while taking the keys and favoring the man with a smile. "_Thanks for your trouble._"

* * *

"I get the feeling we'll be scandalizing the locals if they find out about your master switching the sleeping arrangements." Caules mused.

"Meh…I'm not complaining." Sakura said while lying down on the bed they'd be sharing.

"Well, neither am I, at least not really." Caules said. "But our hosts might get just a bit annoyed."

"They're probably just being polite." Sakura pointed out. "Even assuming…nothing here is connected to the cult, we're still magi, and they're still the Church. I mean, sure, it's the Russian Orthodox Church, not the Roman Catholic Church, and they're supposed to have a working relationship with Count Migunov, but…"

"Yeah, I get what you mean." Caules conceded with a nod. "If it looks and sounds like a sewer rat…"

Sakura smiled lightly and gave a small shrug. "Well, at least it'll be just a bit warmer at night while we're here." She said.

Caules gave a weak laugh. "Don't get too relaxed, though." He said. "You never know what might happen."

"Hmm…fair enough…on that note…"

Sakura took a deep breath, and then leaping off the bed, stretched her limbs. "Care to help out?" she asked, while reaching into Imaginary Numbers Space and pulling out a box of iron-infused chalk.

"Setting up bounded fields, you mean?" Caules asked. "Sure, why not? We have some time to spare, and an additional line of defense around our rooms at least could just be what we need to avoid getting unpleasantly surprised if things take a sudden trip south."

"Yeah, that's what I was thinking too." Sakura said, sinking down onto the floor, and beginning to draw a mandala on the ground. Caules briefly went to the door to lock it, and then joining Sakura on the ground, also began to draw his own mandala. Once the basic form was done, they briefly studied each other's mandala, and then making small adjustments, synced their mysteries to each other.

"We should also sync to your master's, just in case." Caules said.

"Got that covered." Sakura said, looking at her mandala. "It's part of the array…here, and here. Add to that my link with her through the apprenticeship contract…"

"…and it passively actualizes." Caules said with a nod. "Yeah, I see what you mean. Now then, all that's left now is cross-actualization, huh?"

Sakura wordlessly nodded, before using a sterile lancet to pierce her finger. Blood welled up, and reaching out, she allowed it to drop onto Caules' mandala. Caules wordlessly did the same, in his case letting his blood fall onto Sakura's mandala. Both mandalas began to glow, revolving against each other, even as the two magi cast their arias, and erected their bounded fields around their room.

* * *

"_Sakura._" Touko said through her telepathic link with her apprentice.

"_Yes, master?_" Sakura responded in kind.

"_Send out your spirits after dinner._" Touko said while spooning some stew into her mouth. It was roughly-seasoned, and the meat crudely-chopped, but the flavor was rich and the meat soft and tender for all that. "_Keep it subtle, and just take a look around this place. Don't pry just yet._"

"_Yes, master._"

Touko gave a small nod, completely unnoticeable unless you were looking for it. Meanwhile, Sakura and Caules continued conversing about small nothings, the former carrying on with the conversation as though she hadn't literally exchanged thoughts with her master just a moment ago.

"_Master?_" Sakura's thought diffidently nudged at her master's mind.

"_What is it?_"

"_Should I also have my spirits take a look around town?_" Sakura asked. "_Who knows? They might pick up something useful. People talk and all that._"

"_An excellent idea._" Touko replied. "_You do just that, and good for taking the initiative._"

"_Thanks, master._"

"…and then Flat goes," Caules was saying. "Professor Waver, sir! I overheard Jaya talking to Jasa about whether or not you might be interested in having a threesome with them. Only, Jasa then said you might be gay since you don't seem interested in all the beautiful women throwing themselves at you. Professor, is it true? Are you gay?"

Despite herself, Touko had to laugh at that. Only an idiot savant like the Escardos heir would ask a lord that question. Though she had to admit that the El-Melloi boy wonder in charge of Modern Magecraft Theories did genuinely care for his students. Any other lord asked such a…personal, question, would likely have turned the questioner into a smoking patch on the floor in the next moment.

Which was made it funny in the first place: the hard-assed El-Melloi boy wonder actually having to explain – one way or another – his answer to such a question, and why you do _not _ask those kinds of questions to anyone, lord or not.

Though, knowing the Escardos heir, Touko doubted it would stick. She had another laugh to herself at that.

* * *

_They'll be re-consecrating the monastery chapel tomorrow, on Saint Vitomi's Day. Here's to a bright spot for a hard year thus far._

* * *

_Abbot Gerasim's such a great and holy man. I lost everything to robbers out on the steppes, but he gave me more than a scavenger's life…before he came I was nothing. I'm sure…I'd have died a nobody and without the Lord's blessing otherwise…_

* * *

_Did you hear? Old Mother Asya saw the icons weep tears of blood, that she did! Then again, she was always half-mad, ever since her son and his wife and children all got sent to the gulag way back when. Haven't seen her for a while now, though, now that I think about it._

* * *

_There are strange lights out on the hill country, and bad air blowing down from yonder. I saw them myself the other night…the lights…far away, yeah, but I still saw them. Some say it's just a trick of the light…but those with the blood of the steppes know better. There are old devils in the rocks…from lost places and dark times…angry and hateful at our taking of their lands._

* * *

_There's been plenty of ravens of late. Murders of them…flying all over the place…the way they stare at you…they give me the shivers let me tell you. Nothing like that back in Moscow, where my mother brought me into the world._

* * *

_I don't believe it. They're actually letting that damn Yarina Vladislavovna into the ceremony. Wise woman and healer my ass…she's a witch, and a black widow to boot! There's no place for filth like her in such a holy place as the monastery, much less the chapel itself. Mark my words, we'll all be feeling the Lord's anger for letting that woman join the ceremony. What Gerasim's thinking letting her join in beyond me…here's to the Lord showing him the light before we all end up paying for his misjudgment._

* * *

_I don't trust that Andrei Innokentievich. He and his band make a good show of only being interested in good business, but I've seen what his 'good business' does to good people back in Omsk._

* * *

_They said that Saveliy Semyonovich used to get along well with Abbot Gerasim, but they had a falling out over…something, involving the reconsecration of the chapel. Something about the chapel not really being hallowed ground or some other talk like that. He's wrong, but he's got good friends in high places. I can't help but worry…_

* * *

_You want to hear something that only a few people around here know about? Well, here you go…you know Innushka from last year? She was a good woman, and she'd never have stuck a knife into her husband and kept sticking it in even after he stopped screaming unless she had good reason. And I saw her…saw her as Brother Gleb took her away to keep her safe until the law could send someone to pick her up. She was saying something…muttering, more like…over and over again…what was it? Oh yeah…it wasn't him. That's it, she just kept on going that it wasn't him, that her husband wasn't the same man she married all those years ago. Put me off my liquor, let me tell you._

* * *

_When I was boy, I used to tend goats far from here. The old women in our tribe always said never to come here. They said that long ago, before the days of the saint, before the tsars even, evil men dwelt here, worshiping gods from the dark between the stars, and turning the waters of the hills red with the blood of sacrifices. Then the saint came, and the evil of those men went away, never to return. But now…all these stories about lights on the hills…all those murders flying over the steppes…and I remember. I remember the old women of the tribes, and the warnings they said around the fires, and I tremble under the lights of the Moon and stars._

* * *

_The abbot is a holy man, tireless and blessed in the light of the Lord. Once I'd gotten myself lost while tending to the catacombs under the monastery, long enough that my candle burned itself out. I'd have pissed myself to death down there in the dark, when I heard the abbot's voice and he guided me out. It was so…soothing, that it felt like all my fears and worries never were. Later I learned he was holding a prayer vigil at the time. It's a miracle, no doubt about it!_

* * *

"Well, there's definitely something fishy going on around here." Touko said as she lowered Sakura's report, containing the filtered transcripts of the conversations her spirits had eavesdropped on in the town below. "The monastery looks clean…_too_ clean, even. At least, on the surface."

"You did say not to pry, master." Sakura said.

"So I did." Touko said with a nod. "Let's not start tipping stones just yet, not until we've got more idea on what we're dealing with. I might have a general idea of what's in the air, and it's nothing good, but here and now we're standing on the threshold of what's essentially analogous to the dragon's lair."

"Didn't you deal with people like them in New England?" Sakura said.

"What went down in New England isn't like what's happening here." Touko grimly said. "Remember the reports from Omsk?"

"…point taken, master." Sakura said.

Touko made a sound of disgust. "Well, this is going to be a pain." She said. "And it's not like we can just walk away from this, whether or not we get what we're here for in the first place. It'd be more trouble than its worth. Damn these bastards…I'll be sure to carve compensation for my time from their innards."

Sakura looked concerned, but then Touko turned back to her. "Go back to your room, Sakura." She said. "Get some sleep. We'll have more work to do tomorrow."

"Yes, master."

* * *

A/N

I have returned.


End file.
